In Plain Sight
by Starciya
Summary: Prince Matthew lives in his mind a perfect life, where all he has to worry about if his new maid can keep his papers in order. But what will he do when he gets sucked into her problems. Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Crown Prince Matthew Tobias Contfe looked at himself in the mirror. He saw a handsome young man with sandy blonde hair and sparkling light blue eyes. He smiled at himself before turning around and making his way down to his workroom where his father had requested his appearce. When he walked in to his study he noticed his father standing in front of five young maids. He sent his father a inquiring look, wondering what his father was up to now.

King Richard walked up to his son and quietly told him, "You need to pick one of these girls to help you out with your studies, experiments, and whatever else you require. Once you pick one you are stuck with her for a full year. You can't change every day like you have been doing the last month. Do you understand?" The last part came out as a threat.

Matt looked over at his father, his eyes ice as he thought about whether he should listen to his words or not. Matt finally looked away, to look at the five girls and commented, "These girls better be up to the challenge. I am not an easy person to serve."

King Richard smiled and replied, "You find that any one of them will do the job quite well." And then walked out of the room.

Matt walked up to the five girls and asked for their names.

The small girl with brown hair and eyes, on the far right answered first, "I'm Hinta." She said with a bow.

The girl besides her had a pale straw colored hair that made her look washed out answered next, "I'm Lynn."

The next two girls were twins with the same colored black hair and coloring, answered together, "I'm Ida and I'm Anise."

The last girl looked at him with longing before answering, "I'm Eliza."

Matt looked away quickly, hating it when girls tried to get him that way. He thought for a second wondering how he was going to make his decision. He looked around his workroom, noticing for the first time in a while that it was a mess, his worktable in the joining room was probably worse. Matt smiled inwardly as he came up with a plan.

"These rooms are quite a mess, will you five please clean them for me? I have a guest coming in an hour and would like it clean by then." He waited for their answers before turning and leaving to go back to his rooms. Once he was there he activated the watching spell he had set up in those two rooms. Before him were two pictures, one in the main workroom and the other showed his worktable.

The twins and Hinta had started working on the main room, while Lynn and Eliza worked to clean up the smaller room. Matt concentrated first on Lynn and Eliza because how they handled his worktable meant a lot to him. Lynn had started picking books off of the floor and stacking them on the table while Eliza was moving papers into a pile on his desk. Matt grimaced as he wondered how long it would take to get those papers back into a workable order. Lynn had finally noticed what Eliza was doing and starting talking to her rapidly. Matt sighed and told himself again he needed to figure out how to get this spell to include sound. He saw Eliza yell at Lynn and push off all the papers onto the floor and left the room to go join the others. Lynn looked at the scattered mess before going to her knees and start picking them up. Matt just assumed that she would just pile them into one pile and leave them on the desk so he turned his attention to the other room where the now four girls were talking as they dusted the room.

He could see from the brisk way they went about their cleaning all four of them were accomplished housecleaners, but that didn't mean that he wanted them to be his personal servant. He looked over to the other room where he expected Lynn to be done picking up the papers and onto something else. What he found was her reviewing each sheet carefully before put into one of the many piles around her. He was surprised. She was reading… While everyone was taught to read, many of the servants would forget how to. They didn't think they needed it in order to clean but he thought differently. If Lynn truly was reading and organizing his papers that gave her a good chance for the job.

At this time his friend that he was "expecting" walked into the door.

"I was told you were here. Why aren't you in your workroom?" Justin asked.

Matt looked up at his dark-haired friend. "Look." He pointed to his two images, "My father says that I have to pick one of them to be my servant and I have to keep her for a year." Matt grimaced when he said that.

Justin laughed, "No wonder, you have been going through them like flies. Everyone one in the castle is getting annoyed at it." He sat down by Matt and looked at the five girls cleaning. "Do you like any of them yet?"

Matt pointed to the lone girl at the worktable. "I think she actually read and organized my papers."

Justin chuckled, "Don't be so surprised if she did read, you tend to think everyone is an idiot."

Matt smiled, "I just remark on what I see."

Justin rolled his eyes and then stood up, "Come introduce me to your victims so I can run my own test on them."

When they arrived in the rooms, Matt noticed that the four were waiting in the main room for him but he didn't see Lynn. He nodded to them and walked into the room where she was. She was on her hands and knees trying to get a book that had slid underneath the couch.

Justin smiled when he saw that and elbowed Matt in the ribs as he pointed over to her. Lynn finally noticed that she was no longer alone looked up in surprise. Seeing who it was she scrambled to stand up so she could bow to them. Matt motioned for her to pick up the book now laying at her feet and commented, "You found the book that Justin put there three months ago."

"It was actually four."

"Four? Really that long ago?" Matt asked him.

"Yes, it was." Justin replied.

"Hum… Anyway, Justin put it there to see how long it would take before somebody noticed it. Good Job."

Lynn just shuffled her feet and kept her eyes on her boots. Matt told her to join the other four in the other room. He raised his eyebrows at Justin as Justin passed him.

When they were all in the main room Matt spoke to the five. "Good job, cleaning. Justin was very impressed."

Justin interrupted at this point, "Yes, good job. Now I am going to go and get some supplies and I need some help. I am going to take the three at the end to assist me, while the others follow what the Prince says." He motioned to the Twins and Hinta. Justin then left the room, followed by the three maids.

Matt looked at the remaining two and asked Lynn to go fetch some tea for Justin and him. And then sent Eliza off on a search for the Mage Twymn.

Matt watched them as they left and then hurried to his worktable and examined the piles of paper, trying to find fault in their organization. He had to admit that they were well done, especially after being knocked on the floor. He wondered again why she could read so well.

* * *

Author's note- Start of a new story!!! Hopefully you will like it as much as the last one. This one while it is my own story does have hints at some fairy tales, but I won't give away which ones they are. Please Review.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Eliza returned fairly quickly with Mage Twymn. Matt was surprised Twymn was usually very hard to find. Matt expected Lynn back with the tea before Eliza returned. Matt motioned for Twymn to sit down at the worktable and excused Eliza to the outer room until he called again.

Twymn sat down and asked, "Who's the new help?"

Matt rolled his eyes and explained about the choice his father was making him make. "So the test begins."

Twymn half-smiled, "Do you have one you like better than the others?"

Matt sighed, "It just started a couple of hours ago, I don't have enough information to make a decision."

"Here is some information for you about the young maid who fetched me. I heard someone yelling in the hall and when I came out to investigate I saw her yelling at another maid to find me as fast as she could. She has a temper." Twymn commented.

Matt nodded accepting the information. He sat there for a few seconds thinking. A light knock on the nod, startling him. Lynn came in with a tray and carefully put it on the edge of the table. She asked if they would like their tea served now or later. They both selected now. As she started to pour the tea, Twymn asked, "So why am I here?"

Matt looked Twymn in the eyes and asked, "I want to make a locator spell. One that if we had an object from a person we can find where they are now."

Twymn slowly nodded, "Is there someone in particular that you are looking for?"

Matt finally lowered his eyes, "I am looking for Addi."

Twymn commented, "Lady Addi… That is right, she had been missing for almost four months now. But I don't understand why you are taking such an interest. If I recall right, you and Lady Addi fought whenever you were in the same room with each other."

Matt looked up again and stated, "I am not doing it for me, her father, Lord Artt asked me to try and find her for him."

Lynn looked up sharply from the tea, "But her father wants her to marry Duke Daire, and that is why she disappeared." When Matt looked questionably at her she answered, "Servants talk, Your Highness. I know several of the servants who serve in Lord Artt's castle."

Matt took a deep breath and commented on her statement, "That isn't what her father is saying, He is saying that she ran away because he wouldn't get her the horse she wanted. The only way to figure out this whole mess is to talk to Lady Addi, and in order to do that we need to find her."

Lynn nodded her head mutely at his comments and then bowed before excusing herself from the room.

Matt looked at Twymn and asked, "Will you help me?"

Twymn nodded and replied, "Sounds like this spell has many possibilities. I look forward to working with you on them."

At this time Justin and the other three maids walked in carrying armfuls of books. He had them deposited on the table before sitting down. After the maids left the room, Justin remarked, "Good luck picking the one you want. Either those girls were just acting flaky or they really are. I swear I had to say some directions five times."

Twymn smiled and said, "They may surprise you yet, Matt. You should give them a c chance. Although I have to say that the girl, who served the tea, is bold."

Matt nodded, he knew he was already leaning towards who he wanted, but he was going to have to conduct more tests tomorrow to make sure.

* * *

It was early the next morning and Matt was in his workroom with Twymn and Justin. He was waiting for Hinta to arrive. After not wanting to wait anymore he gave a list of instructions to each of the maids. He wanted to see how accurately and timely they fill out the instructions. While pretending to talk to Justin he watched the maids' reactions to the lists. One of the twins actually gave the list to their sister to read. Filing away the information that she didn't know how to read, he turned and began to seriously attend to the task at hand.

Twymn, Justin and Matt spent the morning talking about theories on how to go about constructing the locator spell. Every so often one of the maids would come in and bring in some of the supplies that were on their lists. Matt kept a careful eye on what they brought in and if he had to send anybody back to get the right item. Everybody had to go back and correct at least three items that they had brought. Matt had made it so that would happen. He picked items that would be easily confused. He wanted to see how they reacted when they had to go back again and again.

Twymn was right Eliza had a temper; he could tell that she was just barely holding it in. Matt didn't know if he wanted someone who could get him in trouble by yelling at the wrong person. The twins when they thought they were out of his hearing would start arguing on who had messed up. Hinata still hadn't shown up yet, in his mind she was already out. And that left Lynn and for some reason he couldn't read her. She accepted his remarks with a nod of her head and then walked out.

At one point when all the maids were on errands, Justin asked Matt, "Are you getting a better idea of who you want?"

Matt made a face and responded, "I think so, but every time I start thinking about making a choice I remember that I will be stuck with them for a year. And I don't believe that I really want any of them to do that."

Justin laughed, "I think your father did this to on purpose, to see if his son had enough patience to deal with it."

Matt glared at Justin, until Twymn interrupted with a comment. "Why don't you give each of them a day or two where they would work with you normally and then decide from that performance?"

Matt thought about as he nodded his head, he liked that idea. He decided to try it and see if he would feel more confident on a decision.

* * *

The next day was the first day for the master plan. Eliza went first. Matt made sure he did not go easy on her. He wanted to know how she dealt with stress, if she would lose her temper or not. He spent the morning having her making trips for this spice, or this bowl. The afternoon he had her take notes of their progress on the spell.

That night he thought about how well she did as he went through her notes. She didn't lose her temper to him, he was secretly asking around to see if she did to anybody else she might have met while traveling on the errands. He didn't like her writing though, it was hard to read. Matt knew she was writing very fast but still he was better off taking his own notes if he wanted to be able to read them for later reference.

The day after was Ida. Matt was frustrated with her before lunch time. She couldn't read, or had to come back and ask for the instructions again because she forgot. At least this one required no thought, she was not even in the running for the job.

Next day was the other twin, Anise. She was not much better than her sister. While she could read she could hardly write to take notes for him. Another easy decision to make.

The fourth day was Hinata, (Justin convinced him to give her another chance). She arrived late and did everything too slow for his liking. She was out of the running as well.

The fifth and final day was Lynn's turn. Matt had purposefully saved her for last. He was hoping that she would be the one, or at least better than all the others. During the morning he did the same routine as he did with all the others. He sent her on errands to get this and that.

After the third item she came back with the can of cinnamon oil and put it down with a hard thud on the table and asked very bluntly. "Why do you think I am a idiot?"

Matt looked up at her surprised, "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is you have been sending me on errands to get this certain kind of oil from the mages workroom, or a bowl from the kitchen but you have the same item out in your outer room or even in this room." When she finished she walked over to the cabinet on the far wall and took out a bottle of cinnamon oil and held it up expectantly.

Matt smiled and nodded, "You're the first one to notice that I was doing that. Congratulations."

Lynn rolled her eyes, "I don't want congratulations, I want to know why you are treating me like I'm a idiot."

Matt looked over that Twymn and Justin who were both hiding grins behind their hands, and answered, "Because that is what I have had to deal with all week. I also want to see how much you know. How about you sit down and start writing down our notes for us."

Lynn sighed and grabbed the notebook from Justin's too helpful hands and sat down.

* * *

Author's note- Hope you like this chapter, please read and review.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Matt was in his room looking at two stacks of notes, Eliza's and Lynn's. Lynn was a much better writer than Eliza but she was a blunt girl. He never had a servant who was as blunt as her. It seemed she would just say the first thing that came in her mind. While working with her today was a breeze compared to some of the others, Matt wasn't sure if he wanted to hear that blunt truth all the time. But his only other choice was Eliza, and he hated her note taking. His logical choice was Lynn but he found himself hesitating for some reason.

Matt sighed and picked up Lynn's notes again. Reading them he found that she had spelt Ashwagandha correctly. He then finally realized that he had already made his decision to keep her. He walked outside and called a page to deliver a message to Lynn to meet him in the morning and went to bed.

* * *

Lynn was setting out a tray of breakfast in the workroom when he arrived the next morning. She glanced up at him and said, "Tana, the headwoman, caught me on my way up here and told me to bring your breakfast here."

Matt scowled, "I know who Tana is. I assume that you were told that you are my new servant." Lynn nodded, and he went on. "Very well, I am going to be spending most of the day on a hunt with Justin. I have a list here of ingredients that need to be bought in town. That is your task for the day."

Lynn again nodded and asked, "You don't strike me as the hunting type. Why are you going?"

Matt just shrugged and replied, "Justin always drags me along and I have come to like doing something different." He looked at Lynn who cocked her head and nodded. She then came forward and picked up his list. "Is there anything else you would like me to do before I head into the town for these?" Matt shook his head and watched her leave the room. He then sat down and began to eat his breakfast while he waited for Justin to come in.

That night when Matt came in from the hunt he walked into his workroom to get something, on the table was a note from Lynn explaining she had gotten all the ingredients and put them away for him. Matt put the note back on the table and looked over at the supply shelf. He murmered to himself, "Just one experiment and then I'll go to sleep."

He began to take out the ingredients and mixing supplies. The problem they had been having with the locator spell was it couldn't pick up on the person. He thought that he just needed a different mix of herbs and magic.

Matt woke up to somebody shaking him. He realized that he had fallen asleep hunched over the worktable. He sat up to find Justin and Twymn looking down at him and smiling. Matt yawned and stretched as they sat down.

"Did you work all night?" Justin asked.

"Just till I fell asleep." Matt replied with a slight smile.

"Do you have any results for all this work?" Twymn teased.

Matt chuckled, "I do, I think I figured out how to make the bulk of the spell work but I really can't remember. I must have fallen asleep about then." He was distracted by the door opening and Lynn walking in with a large tray of food.

"I sent her to grab us some breakfast when it looked like you didn't get any this morning." Justin filled in as Lynn set the tray on the table and began to pour everybody tea.

As they ate Matt filled everybody in on what he could remember of the night before. Lynn was sitting off to the side reading his notes that he had scrawled out. When he came to a part he couldn't remember Lynn would read what he wrote in his notes. Justin watched the two as they discussed back and forth what Matt had written down. Matt looked up just in time to see Justin grinning broadly at him. "What are you smiling at?" Matt asked.

Justin just shrugged and diverted his attention back to the discussion. Matt watched Justin suspiciously for a few moments before focusing on the spell again.

They had gone all morning in this mode. Testing the spell, changing some aspect of it, testing it again, changing something else, testing, change….over and over again until they thought that they had a spell that was ready for a field test.

Justin leaned back in his chair stretching and asked Matt, "Are you going to do the actual test or you going to let Heinemann do it again?"

Matt sat there thinking, while he was thinking Lynn looked up from her notes and asked, "Do you mean that all those spells and things Duke Heinemann does, he didn't really come up with?"

Matt looked at her confused, "What do you mean?"

"What I am asking is the spell to help the cure the potato blight last year wasn't Duke Heinemann's spell, it was yours?"

Matt laughed, "Heinemann can't use magic, but he has agreed to test my spells and pass them out. He has been very nice to be so accommodating."

Lynn looked at him and asked, "Do you know he is taking credit for your spells?"

Matt shrugged, "Yes, why should it matter who takes credit for the spell?"

"Because your people think all you do is lock yourself in this room and do nothing. They all hate you for it. And they love Duke Heinemann because he is doing all these things for the people. Your image in the eyes of the people is being destroyed."

Matt stared at Lynn for a moment before asking, "Does it really make that much of a difference?"

Now it was Lynn's turn to stare at him, "It does, My Prince. Imagine if you ask them to do something and since they don't like you they refuse to do it. Leaving you with the decision whether to punish them or not. But it they thought that you were doing things to help them when you ask them to do something they would do it. It is a lesson in leadership."

Matt made a face and then asked Justin, "Is it true that not taking credit is hurting my image?"

Justin nodded slowly before commenting, "We thought that you knew and didn't care."

Matt looked away then back at their faces, "I will do this test myself, then." Lynn smiled at him and he scowled back at her.

* * *

The first tests they did was with each other. Justin would go hide somewhere in the forest and they would try and use the spell to find where he was hiding. It took several days of this to finally get the spell to the point where Matt felt comfortable to try it out for real. The only problem with this is they needed somebody to go missing. He sent out word that if anybody went missing or if they were trying to find somebody to let him know.

A week went by and there was nothing. Matt was getting to the point where he was going to try and find Lady Addi even if he didn't know if the spell worked completely or not. He had to admit that Lynn was priceless to him. She was doing her job perfectly and was a great companion to talk to. She was smart and knew a great deal about the people he someday would rule. He wondered why he hadn't asked any of the servants their opinions about anything or how they viewed things. Matt learned that Lynn was a lady who would speak the truth about things. He came to admire that in her.

Early one morning, Matt received word that a young boy had gone missing in a forest on the edge of Lord Artt's land and the parents were desperate enough to try his spell. Matt made a face when he heard that and wondered if his image was really that bad.

He made immediate arrangements to leave, which meant waking up a lot of people. He was outside the castle overseeing the horses when a sleeply-looking Lynn walked up and handed him his bag with all this magic supplies. He looked at her, her hair had been hastily pulled back and she still had sleep marks on her face. When he mentioned it to her she made a face and asked him if there was anything else he needed her to get before he left. He looked at her startled, and asked, "What do you mean before I leave? You are coming with me."

Lynn looked at him confused, "No, it is customary that your servant maids stay in the castle when you go anywhere. I am not coming with you."

Matt scowled and growled, "I know what is customary and what isn't. I said you were coming, I will need you to keep track of the progress of the spell. I have already ordered a horse to be made ready for you, so you better go get a bag packed before I throw you on that horse."

Lynn looked up surprised at his face. When all she saw was his determination she quickly nodded and scurried back to pack herself a bag.

Matt smiled to himself as he watched her hurry back inside for her things, this was going to be a fun trip. It would take three days to reach the forest and hopefully his spell would work and the boy would be found. He didn't want to think about what might happen to the boy if it didn't.

Within the next hour everything was ready to go. Everyone who was going was on their horses and that included Lynn. It was a small company for a prince but Matt had demanded that it be that way so they could move faster. Going on the trip was Justin, Twymn, Himself, Lynn and 6 guards.

When they stopped for lunch, Matt commented to Lynn that she rode very well. She made a face at him and commented back that what did he expect from her.

He smiled and shrugged his shoulders not wanting to get in a fight with her right now. As he walked away he thought that sometimes she didn't act like a servant should.

The ride was fast and long. It didn't give him much chance to talk with his companions. The only time the really had to talk was at night but even then they were all tired from the long ride to get into a long conversation before going to sleep. But because of that they made very good time and made it to the village in two days. They were introduced to the parents of the missing boy. By now he had been missing for five days and they were beginning to think that he might be dead. Matt immediately went to work setting up his spell. He worked as fast as he could with his companions besides him helping. Within minutes the spell began glowing and pointed off in the directions of the woods. Matt with the spell in his hand led the search party into the woods following the pale light.

* * *

Author's note- Sorry about not updating sooner, that is what the holidays do to you. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I wasn't quite sure whether I should stop here or not but I did. Please Review. I love reading them.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

They followed Matt as he followed his spell. Nobody could see his face and therefore couldn't see how much he hoped it would work. He had been following the spell for what seemed like hours, Matt thought that they were at least in the middle of the forest by now. He paused to look behind him and noticed that they were all strung out in a line. He caught sight of Lynn who was only one person behind him. When he thought he heard a noise, Matt quickly turned around and looked at the woods around him. Scanning the bushes he couldn't see anybody, Matt glanced over his shoulder to see the villager who was right behind him, come and stop at a tree a little bit away.

Matt heard the noise again and looked in front of him to see a large man pointing a crossbow at him. Matt held up his hands and said, "You don't want to do that."

The man just sneered at him and asked, "Why are you in these woods?"

Matt answered, "I am here helping look for a lost boy, by chance have you seen him?"

The man just narrowed his eyes and stared at Matt. From behind him Matt heard Justin yell, "Lynn! What are you doing?" Then Matt saw her figure dart from behind him to in front of him. He could see the man look at her in surprise and open his mouth to say something.

Lynn shook her head and stated, "Thomas, you don't want to hurt our Prince Matthew, now do you?"

Thomas looked at her strangely before replying, "L…Lynn, where have you been? I haven't seen you around these last few months."

Lynn replied, "I was accepted to Madam Chyrish's School. I now work at the castle as a servant to Prince Matthew."

Thomas lowered his crossbow and looked at Matt. He looked at him for a few seconds before lowering his eyes and bowing, "I am sorry, My Prince. I did not know you were looking for the boy. I thought that you might be bandits."

Matt gently walked past Lynn and accepted Thomas's apology. He explained that they were following a spell he had constructed, and they were hoping to would lead to the missing boy. By this time everybody in the search party had caught up and those from the village were asking Thomas where he had come from. Matt looked at the man who had been behind him before Lynn shown up and cocked his head when they made eye contact. The man shrugged his shoulders and walked away. _Lynn was right about my image_, Matt thought to himself, _that man didn't try at all to correct Thomas earlier._

They followed the spell for another hour when it led into a cave. Matt ordered for torches to be made and continued following the pale light inside. Just inside the cave they found the young boy curled up in a ball. Matt reached out and gently shook him, the boy looked up and saw Matt and the people around him, when he looked at his father he stood up and ran to him.

Matt smiled as they embraced, glad that they found the boy unharmed.

* * *

They had returned to the village by now, and as his father questioned him, the boy apparently had gotten lost and turned around and the more he tried to get back to the village the more lost he got.

Matt looked around at the others and was surprised to see Lynn talking quite heatedly with Thomas. It looked like she was trying to convince him of something. Matt grew concerned and walked over to them. He held his hand out to Thomas and thanked him for helping them on the search. Thomas looked at him strangely and bluntly asked, "Lynn tells me that you are responsible for the spell that helped find the boy. And that you have done other spells that you have not taken credit for."

Matt looked him straight in the eye and answered, "Yes I have. I didn't realize that it was important that I take credit for them, I just thought it was good that I was helping. Apparently I was wrong."

At this answer Thomas smiled broadly and shook Matt's extended hand, "That is a good answer."

Matt looked over at Lynn and finally asked her, "How did you know that he wouldn't shot you for getting in front of me?"

Lynn slightly smiled, "Thomas is one of my brother's good friends. I knew he wouldn't shoot me, if only it meant that he would have had to answer to my brother."

Thomas grimaced, "Yes, that would not be a happy day, facing your brother after your death."

Matt asked Lynn, "I didn't know that you went to Madam Chyrish's School. Why aren't you serving my mother?"

Lynn rolled her eyes, "The King wanted me with you." Seeing a questioning look on Thomas's face, she said, "Madam Chyrish's School is really meant for the servants who serve the ladies of the house. I learned how to sew, and what advice to give, etc. It is frightfully boring, by the way."

Thomas laughed and nodded to them both as he walked away.

Matt turned to Lynn and asked, "How do you know him?"

Lynn smiled before answering, "I have almost answered that question. Thomas is a traveling merchant who does business with my brother. Thomas often stays at our house when he is in town and we have become friends through our meetings."

Matt nodded his understanding and turned his attention to the boy and his father, "I am glad that we were able to rescue him. I am even more excited because the spell worked. Since we are near Lord Artt's land, I want to drop by and get something of Lady Addi's so I can see if I can find her." He looked over at Lynn and saw her expression. He wasn't quite sure what it was, it looked like fear. It quickly disappeared though.

Lynn swallowed and asked, "Is it alright if I go back to the castle with Twymn? I can't imagine you would need me for this part of the journey."

Matt thought it through and had to agree with her, he didn't need her but…. Matt looked back down at Lynn's hopeful face and accepted her request to go back with Twymn.

Lynn thanked him and went over to talk with Twymn. Matt caught himself looking after her as she disappeared from sight. He looked away quickly and shook his head. He wasn't quite sure why he even brought her on this trip, he just couldn't quite put his finger on it. He turned around and looked for Justin. He wanted to be on his way to Lord Artt's as soon as possible.

* * *

As Justin and Matt were riding to Artt's place Justin asked, "So why isn't Lynn coming with us this time?"

Matt looked at him and shrugged, "She asked me if she could go back to the castle, so I agreed."

Justin looked at him and made a face, "You just let her go after forcing her to come all this way?"

"I thought I might need her help if the spell didn't work. Since it did, I don't need her help anymore."

Justin laughed, "I hope you know how cold that sounded, and that if Lynn ever heard that she probably would hit you."

Matt grimaced and agreed with his friend.

* * *

It only took a day to reach their destination. Lord Artt was overwhelming with his welcome. He insisted that they be with him, shooting for birds, playing games of chess, the list goes on…with him talking nonstop.

During one of the games of chess, Matt was sitting there listening to Artt's talking wondering how Justin escaped and if he could do the same soon. He focused his attention back on the man talking, "I am so glad you are here. I have been so worried about my daughter since she ran away. I just can't see how she would run away just because I wouldn't buy her that horse she wanted so badly. Maybe she was just nervious about the upcoming engagement."

"Are you sure it was because of the horse that Addi ran away?" Matt interrupted, "I heard rumors that it might be she didn't want to be engaged that cuased her to disappear."

Artt looked nervous for a moment , but he recovered very quickly and said, "You must have heard about her uneasiment on how fast everything was happening. She wanted things to go slower."

Matt forced himself to nod his head as if he accepted the answer, and allowed the subject to be changed on how much Artt liked Duke Daire. He was so handsome and kind to him. He was always so nice to his daughter, Adilyn. He knew she was going to be happy with Daire once they got married.

Matt finally had enough and stood up and announced that he needed to find Justin and started walking off quickly not allowing the surprised man a chance to catch up.

Matt quickly strode up the halls to his rooms wondering if that is where Justin was hiding. He surprised a servant cleaning the room. Matt asked, "Have you seen Justin? The man who was traveling with me."

The servant stammered, "L..Lord J..Justin? He was in here but left when I c..came i…in."

Matt thanked him and then left again. Asking different people along the way he finally found Justin in the library with Lord Tavis, eldest son to Artt and Addi's brother. They both looked up as Matt came through the door.

"Tavis! I didn't realize that you were here currently. Your father said you off inspecting some fields somewhere." Matt exclaimed as he gave Tavis a warm handshake.

Tavis smiled, "My father hears what he wants to hear. I told him I would be back today. I think he ignored that part. Justin tells me why you're here though. You need something of Addi's to use in your spell to find her."

Matt nodded, "Yes, I believe we should be able to find her easily with the spell."

"I ran into a old merchant friend of mine who saw that spell in action. He said he almost shot you."

Matt laughed, "Where did you meet up with Thomas?"

Tavis paused for a moment before continuing on, "He came to warn me about your spell and how you want to use it to find my sister. You see, there is a group of people out there, Thomas included, who think it is better for her not to be found."

Matt narrowed his eyes and asked, "Why do they think that?"

"If she is found that stupid wedding with that idiot will continue and none of us want that." Tavis explained.

Justin finally spoke up, "I am guessing that idiot is Daire." Tavis nodded. "So it is true that she doesn't want to be married to him."

Tavis nodded again before picking up, "No she doesn't. Two years ago she might have. He was charming around her. Gave her things, took her out for walks, listened to what she had to say and then she found out how horrible is to his people and how mean he is to any servant he mets. She refused to have anything to do with him. That is when he began to play the father card. He has my father believing he is the best person in the world. My father won't even listen to anything I say about the matter. Addi saw the only escape and disappeared. I don't blame her." Tavis finished looking at the floor.

Matt asked, "Is there anything I can do?"

Tavis looked up at him, "I have been speaking with Duke Samuel and Duchess Alia, Daire's parents. They are surprisingly against this marriage as well. They are not pleased with how he has been treating the people and how he has been obsessing over Addi. They are close to abdicating his right to inherit to his younger brother Davis. You might be able talk something out with them."

MAttlooked away and thought about that for a moment before looking back at Tavis, and Justin. "I think I want to talk to Addi about this. She is the one who should make the decision since it is her life. Can you give me something of hers so I can find her?"

Tavis stared into Matt's face trying to decide, he then sighed, reaching up around his neck he unclasped a necklace and gave it to Matt. "Just promise that no matter what happens she will be kept safe."

Matt nodded, "I give you my word I will do everything in my power to keep her safe." Without looking at the necklace any further he put it in his pocket.

Tavis shakily smiled, "I hear you have a maid in your service who isn't afraid of you, tell me about this lass."

Matt rolled his eyes while Justin chuckled, "Lynn is just what you heard, my friend." Justin responded. "She is very smart and one of the few people who I have seen, myself included, who can interrupt Matt and get away with it."

Matt sent a glare at Justin and retorted, "She is not!"

Justin just smiled and responded, "What about a week ago when you were in the middle of that huge breakthrough and she came in and told you that your father was calling for you. You didn't yell at her."

Matt growled before responding, "It is not her fault that my father was looking for me."

Tavis and Justin just looked at him and broke out laughing.

"What?!" Matt demanded.

"No…nothing…" Justin managed to say while he was laughing. "It is just that you have never before been so 'understanding' of the situation like that."

Matt just acted offended and walked out of the room with his two friends following him.

* * *

Author's note- I believe I will end there. I am so happy to all of you who have reviewed. I love reading them. Please keep reviewing, it makes a big difference.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Matt forced his party to head back to the castle at a pace that matched the pace they took coming to find the lost boy. Matt was excited to try the spell and see if he could find Addi. They arrived late in the evening so he didn't get to work right off the bat.

When Matt walked into his workroom early the next morning, Lynn was already there with breakfast. He smiled at her and said, "How did you know I was back?"

Lynn laughed, "They knew you were close last night before I went to bed, I knew you would push through the night, so I made sure I was prepared. How was your trip back, Your Highness?"

Matt groaned, "Long. But I am back now, and ready to test that spell on trying to find Addi."

Lynn looked interested, "What did they give you?"

Matt fumbled in his pocket for a moment and then brought a gold necklace. "Her brother Tavis gave this to me. I actually haven't even looked at it…." He stopped as he finally looked at the golden charm dangling from the necklace. "I…I gave this to her… when we were kids. Huh," he murmured. "It was to apologize for demanding that she couldn't go home."

Lynn asked, "Why didn't you want her to go home?"

Matt smiled in memory, "She was one of the only people who didn't care that I was a prince. She made me feel normal. Although when I demanded that she stay, she punched me in the stomach and knocked the air out of me." He said laughing.

Lynn was laughing with him, "At least you know how to laugh about it now."

Matt looked down at the necklace again, "I never imagined that she would have kept it all this time."

Lynn came up and put her hand on his shoulders, "If anybody finds her, I hope it is you."

Matt smiled at her and then responded, "Let's get going and start this spell, if we may."

Lynn looked at him and nodded. He looked at her for a moment and paused she seemed a little bit sad, but it was gone as soon as he saw it, making him not quite sure if he saw it or not. She was already setting out the ingredients for the spell though. Matt shook it off and began getting himself ready for the spell.

* * *

After lunch Justin found Matt almost in a blind rage. He was pacing around the workroom yelling and spouting off nonsense. Justin stood in the doorway wondering what was going on, he looked around the room and saw many items on the floor and Matt's notes all over the floor. Lynn was in a corner watching Matt pace. She then stepped out and walked in front of Matt. She tried to put her hands on his shoulders and calm him down. He just looked at her angrily, "Get out of my way Lynn."

Lynn steely looked at him, "No, My Prince. Just because your spell has decided to stop working doesn't mean you can start acting like a lunatic."

Matt took a deep breath staring down at Lynn, "I have a right to angry, and I am not hurting anybody."

Lynn matched his stare and said plainly, "Stop acting like a five year old. Instead of thinking over what might have gone wrong and trying to fix it. What can cause a spell that worked to stop working?"

Matt stood there looking at her, processing what she just said. She stood with her hands still on his shoulders staring into his eyes trying to see if he had calmed down yet or not. Matt nodded to her, bringing his hands to clasp hers. "I am calm." He said as he brought her hands down. "Thank you for calming me down. I just can't believe the spell didn't work. I was so sure it was going to work." He finished as he dropped her hands and turned around and surveyed the room. "Wow, I sure did a lot of damage."

Justin finally decided to speak, "You sure did. I didn't think you lost your temper like that anymore."

Matt sadly smiled and answered, "Neither did I. Guess I wasn't paying attention." He looked over to see Lynn kneeling on the floor picking up papers. He sighed to himself and began following her example. As he picked up he thought out loud, "What CAN cause a spell that worked to stop working?"

Justin picked up, "Maybe some of the herbs were no longer good, or maybe you grabbed the wrong one."

"I did the spell five times already, I don't think I could have messed up on the wrong herb five times. I'll have to check and see if the herbs are fresh enough." Matt mused.

Justin said, "Tavis gave us the focus you are using, so I don't think that is the problem. Let us check the herbs first and see if that is the problem."

"Lynn?" Matt asked, "What do you think?"

Lynn looked over to him her eyes showing conflicting emotions she nodded agreement.

Matt wondered what might be the matter with Lynn. She was acting a little off. He needed to apologize to her for losing his temper. He wondered briefly how she had calmed him down so effectively. He caught himself wishing that she wasn't just a servant, because she was something more to him. They had just gotten the room back in order when a servant came and told Matt that his father was requesting his presence. Matt flinched wondering if his father had heard about his _episode_ he had earlier.

He stood up and nodded to his two friends as he followed the servant to the King. Matt entered his father's study and saw King Richard running his hands through his sandy blonde hair. The King looked up and motioned for his son to come to the desk where he was sitting.

"My son, I hope you haven't forgotten about the events that are coming up over the next few days."

Matt just looked at him blankly, trying to figure out what his father was talking aobut.

Seeing Matt's blank stare, The King continued, "Tomorrow is May 23rd which is your…"

"It is my birthday. Your point is?..." Matt started before exclaiming, "And starts the week of balls and parties you and mother have been working on! I can't believe I forgot!"

The King chuckled, "Neither can I. Have your studies been occupying your time that much?"

Matt not quite over the shock responded, "I have been working on a locator spell to help me find Lady Addi."

"I am guessing it still needs some work if you have not found her yet." The King finished.

"No, I thought I had it working that is why I left so suddenly last week. I helped find a missing boy in Cline."

The King smiled and reminded his son, "The first ball is tomorrow night, do not forget it. Even if you find Lady Addi or not. Remember we have invited everybody to this ball, I am surprised that you didn't notice that all the town's hotels are full and the castle is full of guests."

Matt smiled sheepishly, "I guess I have been just a little preoccupied with my work."

"Go and get some sleep you're going to need it for tomorrow."

Matt went back to his workroom in shock and delivered the news to Lynn and Justin who were going through the herbs, testing them. He told them the same news that his father had just told him. Justin and Lynn looked at him surprised. Lynn asked, "You mean you really haven't noticed all the work that has been going on lately?"

Matt scowled at her, "I just got back late last night and have spent the whole day in here so no I haven't."

Lynn smiled, "We better let you get to bed because you are going to need all the energy for all that dancing you are going to be doing tomorrow."

Matt groaned and hit the heel of his hand against his head, "I hate dancing with a bunch of girls I don't know."

Justin couldn't resist the jab, "especially when they are all trying to get you to fall in love with them so they will become a _princess_."

"Expecially because of that." Matt grumbled as he headed out the door. "Lynn will you be able to go out tomorrow and get me fresh herbs to try that spell again?" He stopped at the door and asked.

Lynn shook her head, "I have been recuited by the headwoman, Tana to the kitchens tomorrow. I am afraid it will have to wait."

Matt nodded and said, "The first chance you get, please go and do that. I don't want this spell to be knocked to the side because of a stupid celebration."

"Even if it is your birthday?"

"Even if it is my birthday." Matt responded.

* * *

The next day was hectic. Since Matt had been gone for the last week, he missed all of his fittings for his costume for the dance that night so they were trying to fit it in all that morning. When he complained and asked why they didn't find him the day before to do it. They just responded that they couldn't find him. Matt just made a face and subjected himself to all the pulling and tugging as they sewed.

The afternoon was dedicated to meeting all the higher Nobility that had come to wish him a happy birthday. He grinned, laughed, made a lot of meaningless small talk with everybody and was very happy when they finally announced that dinner was served. Matt escorted a pretty little duchess to her seat and joined his father at the top of the table. He looked at the table blankly waiting for the 1st course to arrive when he heard a whisper in his ear, "You might want to look like you are enjoying yourself or you are going to have people concerned."

Matt smiled and whispered back, "Lynn, what are you doing here?"

"I am serving you your first course." She replied as she slipped a plate of spiced greens in front of him. He tried to comment back to her but she was already gone. He sighed and started eating his food. Lynn kept him up on a running commentary of what chaos was going on in the kitchen as she passed out the new courses and filled the wine glasses. Justin who was sitting beside him and his father were enjoying the diversion deeply. When the meal was finally over there was a two hour break to allow everyone into their costume and get ready for the dance. As Matt headed up to his room he looked for Lynn but she was nowhere to be seen. He resigned himself to the fact he was going to have to deal with all the annoying girls himself and started to get ready for the dance.

Each of the five balls had a theme to them to keep them interesting. The first night was a masquerade dance, come as anybody you wanted to. The second night was also a masquerade dance but it was restricted to heroes. The third night was again a masquerade dance but restricted to ancestors. The fourth night the theme was woods. And the fifth night was a plain ball. Matt's outfits for these nights were very varied, his designers had too much fun, Matt thought as he headed down to the ballroom. His outfit fit him very well and made him look very dashing, which Matt loved. It was an costume of a noble knight. He even was able to wear his sword. As he walked into the ballroom he was announced and everybody looked at him and twittered. He forced himself to smile and appear to be very gracious while he inwardly rolled his eyes and thought about how much he hated twittering.

He was soon out on the floor dancing with a lovely lady dressed as a peacock. She stammered and blushed every time she tried to say anything and agreed with everything he said. At the end of the dance he passed her off for a girl dressed as a fairy. This girl he passed off for a girl dressed as some kind of bird. Dance after dance, boring conversation after another he went on trying not to look bored or as if he were counting down the hours till he could go hide in his room.

With an hour to go he was passed a girl in a fox costume. She had dark auburn hair that went great with her costume. When he commented on that fact she just said, "That is exactly what my seamstress said, if I had my druthers I would have been a witch."

That caused Matt to laugh, "I don't think they would have let you in if you were a witch. They would have been too concerned about you trying to kill me or something like that."

He could see her mouth curve up into a smile, because that was all he could see under the fox mask before she commented, "that is exactly why I wanted to dress up as a witch to see which of the guards were really awake or not."

Matt was caused to laugh again, "I fear what you will come as tomorrow. Should I warn the guards?"

"No!" She mocked, "That would take all the fun out of it."

When the dance ended, Matt was loath to pass her on. He enjoyed talking to someone with some sense. He finally was released at the end of the dance. He quickly made sure that nobody saw him leave in case some of the girls tried to follow him like they did at last year's ball.

Justin soon caught up with him though, "How did you enjoy the ball?"

"One night down, only four left." Matt said plainly.

"Oh come on, you enjoyed at least one of the dances. The one with the fox. Every time you laughed I swear all the girls in the room would glare that the girl." Justin said laughing.

"Really?" Matt asked, "I didn't notice at all."

"Exactly why they were all glaring." Justin countered.

"I don't see what the big deal is, it is just one dance. It is not like in the fairy tales where I fall in love at first sight." Matt argued.

"Whatever, my friend. Just ask yourself what Lynn would say to that." Justin said as he turned to go to his room.

Matt stood there looking at his friends receding back, before yelling, "What do you mean what Lynn would say to that?" Justin didn't answer though he just kept walking. Matt went into his room muttering that all his friends were insane. He had already taken off most his costume by the time he had reached his bed and stopped when he saw a box sitting on his bed. He approached it, and picked up the note on top, reading it.

_Happy Birthday, My Prince. I hope the ball wasn't too boring for you and you got some laughs out of it. Lynn_

Matt put the note down and opened the box to find all the fresh herbs he needed for his locator spell. _That must be where Lynn disappeared after dinner, she went and got these herbs for me. _Matt thought as he carefully put the box on the nightstand and climbed into bed.

* * *

The next day was just as busy as the day before it. Matt never got a moment to himself, he was either entertaining guests or trying on tonight's costume. That night when he approached the dance floor he was dressed up as the Hero Bruce. Again he got to wear his sword because Bruce was said to have single handedly saved the royal family from being killed by an invading army.

Every girl he danced with that night asked about the fox girl from the night before. They all tried in vain to tell him jokes to make him laugh. Matt tried to be polite to them and would force out a laugh every now and then.

Then the same time as the night before he was passed a girl with dark auburn hair. Tonight she was dressed as the goddess Martel, in a dress of shining white. Her face was covered as before all he could see was her mouth. She smiled up at him and commented, "I am sorry if I got you in trouble with the natives. They seem to be trying very hard tonight to make you enjoy yourself."

He rolled his eyes, "They are giving me a headache. I think they came up with the jokes together because I have been hearing the same five all night long."

She twisted her mouth as if she were thinking, "Let's see then we need to come up with some that you haven't heard before…. Which I am horrible at so I don't think I am going to try."

Matt searched her hidden face before saying, "You're not going to even try?"

"Nope."

He chuckled and said, "Then what should be talk about?"

"You pick, My Prince."

Matt thought for a second as he followed the steps to the dance, "Let's talk about how these balls are stupid."

"You can't mean that." She teased, "Think of all the friends you're making."

Matt grimaced, "Sure whatever you say."

She smiled brightly up at him and commented, "I do say so. You are making wonderful friends, showing everybody that you can be a team player."

Matt scoffed at that and was about to give a response when it was time to switch partners and she was gone.

* * *

Author's note- Here is the next chapter…much faster than I usually get them out. I will continue the next three balls in the next chapter. I just needed a break before I just skipped them. Please review, I need some reviews about this chapter and the last one.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

It was the night of the third ball, Matt sighed as he looked at himself in the mirror, He was supposed to be dressed up as his grandfather, the Great War general, but he didn't really feel like going to another stupid ball again. He was annoyed right now because of his day. He had all the ingredients to do that spell but he couldn't get any time to himself. He also kept trying to find Lynn but she was being very hard to find. Then he tried finding the girl with the dark auburn hair and she was nowhere to be found. But then he found somebody he didn't want to meet, and that was Duke Daire.

* * *

_When they found themselves looking at each other they first glared at each other. Matt was the first one to attempt to put on a smile and ask Daire how he was enjoying himself._

_Daire thinly smiled back and ignored the question instead asking, "I hear you are looking for My Adilyn. How is that search going?"_

_Matt clenched his hands into fists when he heard, My Adilyn, and forced himself to say, "I have run into complications," But then couldn't hold back, "And from what I hear she isn't Your Addi anything. It is because of you she ran away."_

_Daire narrowed his eyes at Matt and whispered, "She is MINE! And nobody not even you should get in my way."_

_Matt forced himself to act unruffled, "Is that a threat, Daire?"_

"_It is a fact. Don't get in my way of finding her." He said before he turned around and disappeared._

Matt pulled himself from the memory and scowled at himself in the mirror trying to convince himself that he shouldn't get involved, that he didn't care what happened to Addi. Lynn's face popped up in his mind at that time and left him wondering what was going on. He never thought about girls before why did three of them keep coming to his mind? He turned away from the mirror and made his way down to the ball.

The ball did not serve as much of a diversion; Matt kept finding himself not paying attention to his partner and kept looking for the auburn haired girl. She was late compared to the last two nights, he sighed he was hoping to see her again, he remembered during the day that Addi had red hair but it wasn't a dark auburn like his mystery girl he was going to try and convince a name out of her tonight , but she didn't appear. Matt was confused, maybe that is why he couldn't find her today maybe she had gone home already. But why would anybody go home after only attending two balls. And where was Lynn? He wouldn't admit it to himself but in the back of his mind he knew he missed her. He missed that quirky grin she always gave him and how she talked to him like an equal and not like a prince.

He made up his mind and changed direction, instead of going back to his rooms for the night he went to his workroom. As he gathered up the supplies he needed he talked his plan out with himself. First he would use the spell to find Lynn, then with her help they would do the spell again and find Addi. He had a suspicion that the mystery lady at the ball was Addi. He quickly cast the spell using her notebook as a focus. It shone brightly indicating that she was close. He started heading down halls wondering why he couldn't find her earlier. He was just about to turn down a servant hall when he heard a muffled scream. He abandoned the spell and ran around the corner and down the hall where he saw Daire up against the wall with Lynn smashed in-between. Matt saw red as he quickly came up to Daire and pulled him off. Lynn quickly hid behind Matt as he was glaring at Daire. Daire narrowed his eyes at Matt and spat, "I told you not to get involved with my search for Adilyn."

Matt stated, "You were harassing my personal servant, did you actually think that I would stand back and let you do it?"

Daire scoffed, "She is not a servant, She is the one I have been looking for all this time."

Matt studied Daire resolute face, "Lynn is not Adilyn, Daire." Matt looked over to see approaching guards brought by the scream and told them, "Please take Lord Daire and confine him to his rooms until deal with him tomorrow." As they took the protesting Daire away, Matt turned around and facing the hiding girl. "Lynn, are you alright?" he asked.

Lynn nodded. Matt put his arm around her shoulders and escorted her back to the workroom. He sat her down on the couch and pulled up a chair so he was in front of her. "What happened?"

"He surprised me in the hall, kept asking me why I had run away from him, when I tried to scream for help he squashed me against the wall. That is when you came in." Lynn said quietly.

Matt comforted her for a few moments and then went over to his worktable and began assembling his locator spell. What Daire had said rang with some truth to him. Lynn never really acted like a true servant more like an equal. Could she really be…. He quickly activated the spell to have it only point straight to Lynn. He looked up from the spell into her face, she was Addi.

"You really are Addi…" Matt stated dumbfounded.

She smiled sadly, "I hated lying to you, but it was the only choice. I thought that Daire wouldn't look for me in the servants' quarters of the castle, especially since he hardly ever comes here. It was the perfect place to hide."

"Why didn't you tell me? Especially when I started to try and find you." Matt demanded.

Addi looked away, "When I first came here you were the annoying prince I always argued with, the one who never did anything for his country. And then I got to know you better and saw that it wasn't true. By then my lie had been said and I didn't know how to tell you."

Matt looked down at the table and mused, "So how should we proceed? We need to get Daire off of your back. How should we do it?"

Addi smiled, "I don't know about you but I could use some sleep. Could we talk about this tomorrow?"

Matt nodded and commented on what a good idea that was. Addi asked if she could stay and sleep in his workroom, she didn't feel safe anywhere else. Matt gave her permission and left her to go up to his own rooms.

* * *

It took him forever to get to sleep, that night just kept swirling around in head. He couldn't believe that he had Addi there in front of him the whole time and he didn't notice. Why did he never notice? But when was the last time he had actually seen Addi. It had been several years, he hadn't recognized her especially without her red-hair.

Morning came quickly, Matt hardly felt like he had slept at all. He pulled himself out of bed and got dressed. He then went to his workrooms where they could figure out what to do next. When he got there the room was empty. He looked around it confused; he didn't think Addi would leave the room in case Daire somehow got out of his rooms. As he looked around he saw a short note on the table it read.

_I am sorry to leave you like this, Matt, but I never meant for you to get involved in my problem. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Addi._

Matt threw the note on the table and cursed loudly.

* * *

Author's note- I am going to end the chapter there because starting with the next chapter, I am going to backtrack and give the story so far in Lynn's point of view. That way we can fill in some of the gaps. Please review. I love reading them. Thanks to the three that reviewed in the last chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Addi stood in the Prince's workroom with four other servants and the King waiting for him to arrive. When The Prince finally walked in she had to hold in a smile. He looked like he always did, perfectly put together and very handsome with his sandy-blonde hair and blue eyes. Matt and his father were having a little discussion about something, most likely her and her servant friends. Addi closed her eyes and reminded herself again that she couldn't refer to him and Matt; it was now Your Highness or My Prince. Get into servant mode, I am now Lynn and I am a servant. She needed to watch her tongue and make sure she didn't say something that she would regret.

Matt, I mean the Prince turned around and asked for their names and explained what he wanted them to clean up his workroom. The five girls talked and split up the two rooms. She went into the adjoining room with Eliza and started cleaning up. Lynn picked up books while Eliza was doing something on the table. When Lynn looked over and saw that Eliza was just piling all the papers into one mass pile, she spoke alarmed, "No, Eliza. Don't do it like that you are probably ruining Our Prince's system. Only pile things that are on the same subject together."

Eliza glared at her and sneered, "How am I supposed to do that, Lynn? Read through every paper and put it in the right pile."

Lynn looked at her surprised and answered, "Yes."

Eliza just yelled at her, "Then you do it!" and pushed all the papers onto the floor and left the room to join the others.

Lynn looked around at the scattered mess before kneeling down and started picking them up. She could hear the conversation in the next room, Eliza made sure to leave the door slightly open. She caught snatches of conversation, "Thinks she is better than us" … "read through the papers"… "can read better than us…noble wannabe."

Lynn sighed softly to herself, and thought why do they always call me that? At Madam Chyrish's they called me that as well. She continued to quickly scan the papers and sort them into piles. She didn't really read them that closely because she knew she needed to hurry and clean this whole room. She quickly finished the papers and moved onto the rest of the room. She was no stranger to work, before she ran away, she would go out to towns in her father's reign and help them with work. As she got older the more reluctant they had become to let her help but she always convinced them in the end. It is how she got to know what they needed and how they were really doing.

She noticed a book underneath the couch and crouched down to try and reach it. She was beginning to pull it out when she heard a faint sound behind her. She quickly looked up and saw Matt looking at her surprised and a man besides him smiling, she stood up in a hurry dropping the book at her foot. Matt commented, "You found the book that Justin put there three months ago."

She looked over at the man and realized that it was Justin, Matt's best friend. She knew he was one of the younger sons of Lord Grant, and was at the castle a lot. Justin then spoke, ""It was actually four."

"Four? Really that long ago?" Matt countered, Lynn looked at him to see his easy smile as he joked with his friend.

"Yes, it was." Justin replied keeping his face straight.

"Hum… Anyway, Justin put it there to see how long it would take before somebody noticed it. Good Job." Matt directed that last comment at her. She managed a small bow to accept his compliment, keeping her eyes on her shoes, she knew the other four maids were listening to the conversation and was wondering if they would say anything to her about it. Matt then directed her to go join the others, Lynn tried not to grimace at the concept.

Matt and Justin followed her into the next room and told all of them, "Good job, cleaning. Justin was very impressed."

Lynn kept her eyes down not looking at their faces, she was remembering back several years ago when her father would bring her to come visit and they would play in the courtyard. It always ended up in some kind of fight though. She heard Justin say, "Yes, good job. Now I am going to go and get some supplies and I need some help. I am going to take the three at the end to assist me, while the others follow what the Prince says." Lynn looked up just in time to see him motion to the Twins and Hinta. Justin then left the room, followed by the three maids.

Lynn moved her eyes back to Matt who quickly gave the orders for her to go get some tea and Eliza to go find the Mage Twymn. Lynn let Eliza beat her to the door and slowly started to walk down to the kitchen. She smiled at the servants who were bustling around the kitchen; she walked first over to where the tea sets were and started arranging her tray. She was just pouring the steaming water into the tea kettle when Tana, the headwoman came up to her.

"Are you fixing that for the Prince?" Tana asked.

Lynn nodded as she concentrated on her pouring.

"I heard about what The King is making his son do, I believe that is why you are placed there." Tana commented.

Lynn rolled her eyes and replied, "He is playing with me, and he loves doing that."

"How did he find out who you are again?" Tana asked.

"I think he actually recognized me. Matt and Justin will never do that, I believe all they saw was my red hair before." Lynn scoffed.

Tana smiled briefly at that before walking away to attend to another servant. Lynn picked up her tray and began to head back to the workroom. When she returned Eliza was pacing the outer room, she quickly walked past her, knocked lightly on the door and entered the work room, both The Prince and the mage were there talking. She gently set the tray down on the table, with her eyes focused on the blue floral pattern on the cups she asked if they wanted their tea now or to wait. When they both choose to have their tea now, she began to set out the cups, saucers and silverware. Twymn asked first, "So why am I here?"

Lynn kept her eyes down on the cups before her as she heard The Prince answer, "I want to make a locator spell. One that if we had an object from a person we can find where they are now."

Lynn narrowed her eyes as she thought about his proposal, _Could he really do that? _She mused, and then Twymn asked the question she just was thinking about.

"Is there someone in particular that you are looking for?"

As she reached over to pick out the tea kettle she heard The Prince say, "I am looking for Addi." She froze for a split second with the tea kettle in her hands before she forced herself to move and start pouring the tea. She barely heard Twymn say, "Lady Addi… That is right, she had been missing for almost four months now. But I don't understand why you are taking such an interest. If I recall right, you and Lady Addi fought whenever you were in the same room with each other." _I want to know that same thing, _Lynn thought to herself, listening more carefully now for the answer.

"I am not doing it for me, her father, Lord Artt asked me to try and find her for him."

Lynn looked up sharply from her tea, stopping before she poured the second cup, "But her father wants her to marry Duke Daire, and that is why she disappeared." She realized how forceful her answer was when Matt looked at her puzzled, she quickly added, "Servants talk, Your Highness. I know several of the servants who serve in Lord Artt's castle."

She could see Matt took a deep breath and commented on her statement, "That isn't what her father is saying, He is saying that she ran away because he wouldn't get her the horse she wanted. … Lynn stopped listening there, she was surprised. Her father was telling everyone that she ran away because of a horse, she fought to keep her face a blank mask as she nodded at him when he had finished talking and bowed excusing herself from the room.

Lynn walked out of the room in a daze, she wasn't quite sure how to take what her father had said about her, she completely missed the glare that Eliza was sending her as she walked to the window and numbly looked out, not really seeing anything. She was forced out of her brown study by Justin coming in noisily through the door followed by the three that followed him, she watched the little parade go in to the inner room. Then three girls quickly came back out after depositing their burdens in the room. She saw them walk to Eliza and watched them as they started whispering. She knew they were talking about her, they sent some very pointed looks at her to tell her not to come near them. Lynn sighed, she knew there was a type of cast system in the palace servants, and she was at the bottom because she was new. It also didn't help that she could read and write, a skill she was learning was not very valued. She walked out of the room and headed down to the kitchens, it was one of the few places in the castle that she had ever felt comfortable.

* * *

The next morning she reported to duty in The Prince's workroom with the other three girls, Hinata apparently had slept in because she was missing. The Prince wasn't very happy with that she could tell by the way he kept pacing around the room and looking at the sun rising outside the window. She watched him out of the corner of her eyes and tried not to laugh at his impatience. He finally took at deep breath and gave his instructions for the morning. He quickly handed out a long list of instructions to each of them and told them that he would be watching them to see how accurately they followed them out. He then turned and started talking to Justin, or at least Lynn thought he was just faking because it looked like he was watching them.

Lynn sighed as she finally started to read her list, it had some very odd ingredients on it. Was that his point?... to see if they could find them?... she sighed again and left the room to go and get the first items on the list. They looked pretty easy they could be found down in the kitchen storerooms. As she walked down the stairs she could hear the clicking of shoes behind her and knew that some of the other girls were following her down to the storerooms. She quickly found her items and was about to head up the stairs again when she was knocked into the door from behind. She turned around, straightening her shoulders about to demand answers; she then remembered she was no longer a noble that could so proud. She let her shoulders droop a little bit but still looked at her assailant in the eyes, it was Eliza. She made a face and then laughed, "I am sorry, I didn't see you walking there. You should be more careful in the future."

"I will be." Was all Lynn would allow herself to say. She then turned like she didn't care about what Eliza just said knowing it would frustrate her and probably come up with something else.

The morning seemed to drag on, she had been walking all over the castle to get this trinket, or get that ingredient, or something else that was just as ridicules. And to top it off, all of them kept getting sent back because they didn't bring the right thing, all along keeping her polite mask in place. She was beginning to think that it was all part of the prince's plan. By the time the afternoon came, she knew that it was his plan. She itched to yell at him for it but it was something Lady Addi would do and not servant Lynn would do so she bit her tongue and kept her polite mask on her face.

That night she went to bed frustrated, she was more frustrated with herself than anybody else. There more times than she could count that she wanted to shout at somebody and tell them that she was Lady Addi and that was no way to treat her. She knew better than that, she was a servant and servant did all the work. She knew she could work, she has done it before and she could do it again, and no stupid spoiled prince, or selfish girls could stop her from hiding who she really was.

Once she calmed down she knew she could do this and let herself drift off to sleep, so she could be ready for the next day.

* * *

Author's Note- Well here is the first chapter of Addi's point of view. Hope you like it. Please review. Thanks!!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Lynn spent the next four days in the kitchen waiting for her turn. She helped Tana for the most part. Tana and her got along very well, it helped that they had known each other for several years. That friendship showing itself when Tana recognized her the first time she saw her disguise.

Finally on the fifth day it was her turn, from the gossip she had heard around the kitchen, the Prince wasn't showing any preference to any of the servants yet. She spent the whole morning running around the castle again running errands. Giving a message to so and so, asking a question from this scholar over there, picking up this herb or getting that little trinket. The messages she didn't mind because someone had to take them, but the items were suspicious. The first item of Gillyweed she didn't think that they had but the second item, Lynn was pretty sure that there was some Turmeric in the cabinet. The third time when she was sent for some cinnamon oil, she knew she had seen some of that in the cabinet. By the time she came back she had worked herself up to the point where she didn't think before she went up to the table and slammed down the can of cinnamon oil and asked, "Why do you think I am an idiot?"

She met The Prince's surprised eyes evenly as he asked, "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is you have been sending me on errands to get this certain kind of oil from the mages workroom or a bowl from the kitchen but you have the same item out in your outer room or even in this room." When she finished she walked over to the cabinet on the far wall and took out a bottle of cinnamon oil and held it up expectantly.

She was very annoyed when he just smiled and nodded before saying, "You're the first one to notice that I was doing that. Congratulations."

Lynn gritted her teeth as she rolled her eyes, "I don't want congratulations, I want to know why you are treating me like I'm an idiot." She followed his eyes as he looked over at his two companions who were hiding grins behind their hands, before he answered, "Because that is what I have had to deal with all week. I also want to see how much you know. How about you sit down and start writing down our notes for us."

She gave up her anger slipping away from her as she sighed and grabbed the notebook from Justin's too helpful hands and sat down. She spent the rest of the afternoon writing down notes and following their conversation. She still couldn't believe that he was trying to find her. She kept thinking of all the times they argued and he swore that he never wanted to talk to her again.

The next morning Lynn made her way to the kitchen, she wondered what kind of decision that The Prince had made. She had started her breakfast when Tana came and sat down next to her with her own hot cereal. Tana looked at her and quietly commented, "You haven't heard the news, I take it."

Lynn looked warily at her, "What news?"

Tana smiled at her before commenting, "Your new appointment as the Prince's new servant."

Lynn made a face as she heard this news, "I was hoping I wouldn't have to work with him. I didn't really want to get picked."

Tana laughed, "I think the King planned that. I think he picked girls that he knew his son wouldn't pick."

Lynn just scoffed at the idea which made Tana laugh harder. When she finally stopped laughing she told Lynn that she needed to get The Prince his breakfast tray up to his workroom. Lynn sighed again as she got up and cleared her place. As she walked through the room she caught the glare of Eliza from across the room. She just rolled her eyes and finished walking out of the room.

Lynn was setting out a tray of breakfast in the workroom when The Prince arrived in the workroom. She glanced up at him and said, "Tana, the headwoman, caught me on my way up here and told me to bring your breakfast here."

Matt scowled at her, "I know who Tana is. I assume that you were told that you are my new servant." Lynn nodded, watching him as he continued to talk. "Very well, I am going to be spending most of the day on a hunt with Justin. I have a list here of ingredients that need to be bought in town. That is your task for the day."

Lynn again nodded, and then couldn't hold back her curiosity, "You don't strike me as the hunting type. Why are you going?"

Matt just shrugged and replied, "Justin always drags me along and I have come to like doing something different." Lynn cocked her head as she thought about his answer, and nodded when he looked at her. She stepped forward and picked up his list. "Is there anything else you would like me to do before I head into the town for these?" She looked at the Prince, when he shook his head, she did a slight bow and turned around and left the room.

Lynn went down to the kitchen to tell Tana where she was going. After that, she walked out of the castle and headed into town to the mages market where she could fill her list. While she had been out in the town several times as a servant she was always nervous that someone would recognize her. She tried very hard to make it appear that she felt comfortable and wasn't always looking over her shoulder to see if anyone looked at her odd. She kept her purchasing short and to the point, and was soon on her way back to the castle with her items. Because of this when, she arrived in the workroom room it was only the middle of the afternoon, the hunting party was not due back until dinnertime. Lynn wrote a short note explaining that she had gotten all the ingredients and had put them away. She left it on the table and went down to the kitchens to find something else to do.

Lynn woke up the next morning and quickly got ready. She had a feeling that The Prince would want to get an early start. She walked into the workroom and stopped just inside the door when she saw his sleeping figure hunched over the worktable. She smiled, she had expected him to be there already but not because he had been working all night. Her thoughts were interrupted by Justin and Twymn coming into the room. Justin started chuckling when he saw his friend sleeping. He turned to Lynn with a large grin on his face and asked, "Would you mind going down and getting our sleeping beauty some breakfast?" Lynn returned his smile and responded, "You better not let him hear you call him that. He might want revenge." She then turned and headed down to the kitchens.

When she returned The Prince was awake and talking to Justin. She walked in as Justin explained he had sent her for food. Putting the tray on the table she started pouring tea for the three men. As they waited for The Prince to finish eating his breakfast, Lynn started trying to organize his notes he had taken during the night.

The Prince started to tell them what he had been trying to accomplish with his experiments, he started off with the first one and would tell them what he did and what the result was. As he went on he kept pausing trying to remember what had happened, Lynn who was following along in his notes would read what he had written and The Prince would continue. As the notes went on Lynn had a harder time reading them, and finally was in a discussion on what he had actually written. Lynn was trying to read this tired writing of The Prince's when she heard him ask Justin, "What are you smiling at?" Lynn looked up to see Justin shrug and look at her to ask her what was next in the notes. She responded to his question, returning her attention back to the notes in her hand.

Lynn was shaking out her hands at the end of the morning, she had been writing notes all morning. They kept testing different things, then change something, try again, which had to be writing down as well. This caused her hand to hurt, she was massaging it, when Justin leaned back in his chair and asked The Prince, "Are you going to do the actual test or you going to let Heinemann do it again?"

Lynn looked up from her notes and stopped massaging her and looked over at The Prince and asked, "Do you mean that all those spells and things Duke Heinemann does, he didn't really come up with?"

He looked at her confused, "What do you mean?"

She was puzzled, "What I am asking is the spell to help the cure the potato blight last year wasn't Duke Heinemann's spell, it was yours?"

She watched as The Prince laughed, "Heinemann can't use magic, but he has agreed to test my spells and pass them out. He has been very nice to be so accommodating."

She looked at him and asked, "Do you know he is taking credit for your spells?"

He shrugged, "Yes, why should it matter who takes credit for the spell?"

Lynn couldn't believe it, how could he not care? "Because your people think all you do is lock yourself in this room and do nothing. They all hate you for it. And they love Duke Heinemann because he is doing all these things for the people. Your image in the eyes of the people is being destroyed."

He stared at her for a moment before asking, "Does it really make that much of a difference?"

She just stared back at him before replying, "It does, My Prince. Imagine if you ask them to do something and since they don't like you they refuse to do it. Leaving you with the decision whether to punish them or not. But it they thought that you were doing things to help them when you ask them to do something they would do it. It is a lesson in leadership."

She watched as he processed this comment before making a face and then asking Justin, "Is it true that not taking credit is hurting my image?"

Justin nodded slowly before commenting, "We thought that you knew and didn't care."

She was watching The Prince carefully as he looked away then back at their faces, "I will do this test myself, then." When he said that she couldn't help not smiling at him, causing him to scowl back at her, which made her smile broader.

She then spent the next several days following The Prince and Twymn as they stomped around the forest trying to use the spell to find Justin who was hiding somewhere. She wasn't quite sure if she liked this part of the job. She was getting tired of following them around when The Prince finally thought that the spell was ready for some testing. Which meant they now waited because they had to wait for someone to be reported missing before they could try it out for real.

* * *

Lynn dealt with an impatient Prince for a week as he waited for someone to contact him so he could perform a real test on his spell. One quiet afternoon as she sat in the workroom waiting for an order from The Prince, she was contemplating how the last couple weeks felt longer to her. She actually liked being around The Prince. He was smart and liked using it to help people. She had learned more about The Prince's character over the last two weeks than she knew from knowing him his whole life. It made her wonder about all those fights that they had when she was Lady Addi. Did they fight because she was quick to take the offense of what he was saying, or did they fight because he liked arguing with Lady Addi?

She sighed as she looked over to where The Prince was reading through the reports his father gave him. She wasn't quite sure what was in those reports, she knew they had something to do with the commerce of the country. She wondered again how she was able to assume that he didn't care about the country. She had listened to too many townsfolk and their opinions that were only based on gossip.

* * *

She was woken up early one morning, by a runner. He told her that The Prince had received word that a young boy had gone missing in a forest and he was getting ready to ride out to test out his spell. She needed to gather together his mage kit and get out to where he was waiting outside. She quickly tied her hair back and changed out of her nightgown. She ran over to the workroom and started packing all his notes and ingredients that he would need into his travel bag. When she was done she hurried outside to where the party was preparing to leave. She walked up to him and handed him his bag.

He remarked that she looked as if she just rolled out of bed; she stuck her tongue out at him and asked if there was anything else he needed before he left. Lynn was surprised when he looked at her startled and said, "What do you mean before I leave? You are coming with me."

She tried to process his words through her tired mind and replied, "No, it is customary that your servant maids stay in the castle when you go anywhere. I am not coming with you."

She looked up at him and saw that he was scowling, he then growled his response, "I know what is customary and what isn't. I said you were coming, I will need you to keep track of the progress of the spell. I have already ordered a horse to be made ready for you, so you better go get a bag packed before I throw you on that horse."

Lynn couldn't hold back the surprise she felt when he said that. He looked back at her with a determined look of a Prince; she nodded and turned around to get herself ready. She was confused, why did he want her to go? She wanted to see the spell work but normally…. Oh well she was going and she couldn't change that so she better just accept it.

She was on her horse and heading out the gate within the next hour. It was a small party, there were only 10 people going. They moved very fast trying to get to their destination as fast as possible. Lynn was worried when she finally found out where they were going. It was on the very edge of her father's land. Fortunately she had not been in that town as Lady Addi since she was quite small. Her brother Tavis usually was the one who dealt with that village. So she didn't think she would be recognized.

During the two day trip both The Prince and Justin were having poking fun at how well she rode and handled the rough conditions. She had to watch herself because several times she responded as if she was their equal and not just a servant. When they rode into the village, The Prince started his investigation immediately. She helped him assemble the spell and then followed him as he followed the spell into the forest.

Lynn had been following The Prince for several hours, she was now third in line, a villager was in front of her. She looked in front of her and could barely pick him out. She could see that he had stopped and was waiting for the rest of the search party to catch up. As she got closer she saw that he was looking back at the line, He quickly turned around and was looking at something. She found herself speeding up to see what the matter was. The villager in front of her had reached The Prince and was acting fine; she looked back at the Prince and saw that a large man was pointing a crossbow at him. She recognized the man, he was a merchant. She started running and heard from behind her Justin yell, "Lynn! What are you doing?"

She ignored Justin's yell and darted around The Prince and stood in front of him. She could see Thomas looking at her surprised, she knew he recognized her. She sent him a warning look and shook her head mouthing the words, "Lynn, call me Lynn."

She then said out loud, "Thomas, you don't want to hurt out Prince Matthew, now do you?"

Thomas looked at her, trying to figure out what was going on, replied, "L…Lynn, where have you been? I haven't seen you around these last few months."

Lynn sent him a small grateful smile before replying, "I was accepted to Madam Chyrish's School. I now work at the castle as a servant to Prince Matthew."

Thomas lowered his crossbow and looked at the Prince over her shoulder. He looked at him assessing something for a few seconds before lowering his eyes and bowing, "I am sorry, My Prince. I did not know you were looking for the boy. I thought that you might be bandits."

She felt The Prince gently walk past her and saw him accept Thomas's apology. He started explaining that they were following a spell he had constructed, and they were hoping to would lead to the missing boy. Lynn looked behind her and saw that the rest of the search party had caught up. She looked at Justin and Twymn who were looking at her with calculating stares. She shrugged at them and turned to see the villagers asking Thomas questions.

The Prince began leading the way again and they followed the spell for another hour when it led into a cave. He ordered for torches to be made and continued following the pale light inside, Lynn found herself relieved when they found the young boy inside the cave. She smiled as the boy ran to his father and they embraced. She looked over at The Prince and saw in his eyes the same relief.

They headed back, Lynn found herself walking alongside Thomas. She looked over at him and smiled at his worried face. He asked, "What are you doing here? It is dangerous for you to be so close to that idiot."

She shrugged, "The Prince was coming here and wouldn't take no for an answer."

Thomas shook his head, "He doesn't know who you really are, does he?"

Lynn laughed, "No, he doesn't. And before you call him an idiot, I never was around him much and all he really remembers of Lady Addi was red hair. Which I currently don't have."

Thomas sighed as they finished walking into the village, "What I don't understand is why you defend him, I thought you thought he was an idiot too."

She turned to look at him and knew she had to convince him and the Prince was so much more that what everybody thought he was. She told him about the spells and the misplaced credit and how he really was trying to learn from his father how to rule the kingdom. She wasn't able to go much further when The Prince came up and thanked Thomas for helping them with the search.

Lynn watched Thomas as he had a look of curiosity as he asked for himself. "Lynn tells me that you are responsible for the spell that helped find the boy. And that you have done other spells that you have not taken credit for."

The Prince looked him straight in the eye and answered, "Yes I have. I didn't realize that it was important that I take credit for them, I just thought it was good that I was helping. Apparently I was wrong."

Lynn was relieved when Thomas smiled broadly and shook The Prince's extended hand, "That is a good answer."

She saw The Prince look over at her and asked, "How did you know that he wouldn't shot you for getting in front of me?"

Lynn slightly smiled, "Thomas is one of my brother's good friends. I knew he wouldn't shoot me, if only it meant that he would have had to answer to my brother."

Thomas grimaced, "Yes, that would not be a happy day, facing your brother after your death."

Then out of the blue she was asked, "I didn't know that you went to Madam Chyrish's School. Why aren't you serving my mother?"

Lynn rolled her eyes, "The King wanted me with you." Seeing a questioning look on Thomas's face, she said, "Madam Chyrish's School is really meant for the servants who serve the ladies of the house. I learned how to sew, and what advice to give, etc. It is frightfully boring, by the way."

Thomas laughed and nodded to them both as he walked away.

"How do you know him?" Lynn heard The Prince's question as she watched Thomas leave.

She smiled to herself answering, "I have almost answered that question. Thomas is a traveling merchant who does business with my brother. Thomas often stays at our house when he is in town and we have become friends through our meetings."

She turned her attention to The Prince who nodded and looked over that the boy and his father, "I am glad that we were able to rescue him. I am even more excited because the spell worked. Since we are near Lord Artt's land, I want to drop by and get something of Lady Addi's so I can see if I can find her." When she heard him say that she was quickly overcome with panic. She quickly schooled her face into a mask before, she hoped, he had noticed it.

She swallowed quickly thinking of a way to get out of a very dangerous situation, "Is it alright if I go back to the castle with Twymn? I can't imagine you would need me for this part of the journey."

She saw him thinking through her request. If this didn't work she didn't know what she would do. There were way too many people if she went with him that would recognize her and she knew some of them wouldn't keep her secret like Thomas would. When he accepted her request she almost hugged him she was so relieved, she thanked him and went to talk with Twymn about the return journey.

* * *

Author's note- this is a very long chapter, I hoped you enjoyed it. Please review.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The journey home was much more relaxed than the journey there was. Twymn was of a mind that he didn't want to rush, so there was plenty of time to talk on the way, which Lynn did not mind she liked talking to him. Twymn had a great sense of humor and was very knowledgeable about many things especially magic.

On the second day they were riding along when suddenly Twymn asked her, "You don't have any magical gift but you study it. Why?"

The question caught her off guard and she paused for a moment before answering it. "I like learning and you have to admit that it comes in handy when I am helping The Prince and you out with magic spells."

She looked over at Twymn who looked as if he wanted to ask something but wasn't sure if he should or not. She told him, "You can ask me whatever you want to ask me."

He looked over at her very solemn. "I am not completely sure if I should because I don't know what I would do about the answer."

"What is the question that would make you fear the answer?" She asked him puzzled.

He looked away for a long moment before looking back at her and asked, "Who are you really? A plain servant wouldn't know as much about magic as you do. A plain servant shouldn't be able to write as well as you do. A plain servant wouldn't talk to The Prince as if he were an equal. Who are you?"

Lynn gave a small sigh and looked away thinking. She made her decision and looked back at Twymn and stated, "I am Lady Adilyn."

Twymn stared at her for a moment and then started laughing. "I should have guessed that. You knew so much about how she ran away. And Lady Adilyn was one of the few people who could stand up to Matt."

"I am offended that you think it is funny." Lynn pretended to be offended.

"I'm… sorry…I am… laughing more…..at myself…..than you….. I should…have realized ….it sooner…" He apologized while he tried to control his laughing.

Lynn started laughing a bit too unable to keep it in. "I know it is a really good joke. How do you think I have been able to stay hidden for so long?"

They rode for a little while in a comfortable silence before Twymn asked, "Matt is going to find you, you know. That spell will find you, and you can't hide from it, it is too good."

Lynn looked down and murmured, "I know. I am still not sure what I will do once he finds me out." She paused and looked up at her companion, "I can't have him finding me before the balls that are to be held next week. I can't be presented at the balls. Do you have any ideas of how to slow Matt down?"

Twymn looked at her, "I might but once he does find you, how are you going to react?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. I think I am most fearful about his reaction. Is he going to hate me for not telling him myself, for wasting all this time? I don't think I could stand him hating me." This last part came out as a whisper.

Twymn looked over at her and took pity, "I will help you slow down Matt. Once he figures it out what the matter is you are on your own."

Lynn smiled at him and thanked him.

When they returned to the castle, Lynn was not surprised to see everybody in the flurry of movement as they prepared for the upcoming balls. She was immediately pressed into service helping with the decorating, and the preparing the rooms for guests. But that night after the day was over she made sure she found Tana, she had some favors to ask of the headwoman.

She found Tana sitting in front of the big kitchen hearth. "Tana," She called as she approached the woman, "Can I ask you something?"

Tana turned around and gave her a big hug and answered, "Anything my child."

Lynn smiled and took a deep breath, "I need your help getting some costumes secretly for some of the balls."

Tana gave her a stern look, "Going to the balls even in a disguise isn't very smart, my dear."

Lynn looked guilty and replied, "I know. It is just that I haven't had an opportunity to attend one of Matt's balls before and since I am here I really want to go and see what it is like myself."

Tana sighed when she saw her face, "Two balls that is all I am helping you with, do I make myself clear?"

Lynn nodded and gave Tana a huge hug, "Thank you, thank you. Two balls will be plenty."

Tana gave her a look she couldn't quite place as she said, "I hope it will be, I hope it will be."

"Don't be ridiculous, Tana, of course it will be enough. What are we going to do about the costumes?"

Tana smiled, "I believe I have two things that will work for the first two balls, come back tomorrow night and I will show you."

Lynn gave her huge smile again and said, "Thank you." Before leaving the kitchen and Tana.

* * *

The next few days were busy, Lynn made sure to leave the herbs Matt used for his spell out so they would dry up and lose their potency, she was helping with the preparations for the celebrations and she was also having her two costumes fitted to her at night. She loved them, there was a fox and the goddess Martel. When she went to her room for the night she couldn't help herself from imagining what it was going to be like dancing in them at the ball. And for some reason which she couldn't figure out, Matt was always her partner.

The morning before the balls started Lynn was in a wonderful mood, Matt had pushed on through the night and was back, that meant she didn't have to help around the castle anymore because she was officially assigned to him. She already had his breakfast ready and in the workroom when he entered. He seemed surprised at first and then smiled at her and asked, "How did you know I was back?"

She laughed at his question and answered, "They knew you were close last night before I went to bed, I knew you would push through the night, so I made sure I was prepared. How was your trip back, Your Highness?"

She watched him as he groaned, "Long. But I am back now, and ready to test that spell on trying to find Addi."

"What did they give you?" She was interested in what her family had given him.

She watched him closely as he fumbled in his pocket for a moment and then brought a gold necklace. She knew that necklace, why had her brother given him that? She could feel herself blush a little bit as he started talking again. "Her brother Tavis gave this to me. I actually haven't even looked at it…." She watched as stopped as he finally looked at the golden charm dangling from the necklace. "I…I gave this to her… when we were kids. Huh," he murmured. "It was to apologize for demanding that she couldn't go home."

She forgot her own discomfort for curiosity and asked, "Why didn't you want her to go home?"

He smiled in memory, "She was one of the only people who didn't care that I was a prince. She made me feel normal. Although when I demanded that she stay, she punched me in the stomach and knocked the air out of me." He said laughing.

She couldn't help but laugh with him, she remembered that punch, she had been so mad at him when he told her that she had to stay at the castle forever. "At least you know how to laugh about it now."

She followed his eyes down to the necklace again, "I never imagined that she would have kept it all this time." When he said that she couldn't help but feel embarrassed by the fact that she loved that necklace and wore it all the time. When she ran away, having to leave that necklace behind was harder than she wanted to admit.

She went up to Matt and put her hand on his shoulder and sincerely said, "If anybody finds her, I hope it is you."

He smiled at her and then responded, "Let's get going and start this spell, if we may."

She looked at him and felt guilty about how she had messed up this spell, she was beginning to realize that she wanted him to find her. But if she was found he would be involved in her mess and she would be on the run from the idiot Daire again. But she quickly squashed those feelings before she stopped him from doing the spell.

The morning was spent in failure, after the first time it didn't work. Matt had looked at the spell in puzzlement and tried it again. The second time it didn't work, he started running his hands through his hair in frustration and tried it again. The third time it didn't work, he was getting angrier now and even hit the table. The fourth time it didn't work, he had double, no, triple checked everything and was cursing up a storm. After the fifth time, Lynn could see he didn't know what to do anymore. He had gotten himself so psyched out that it was going to be a breeze and that he was going to finally find Addi that the disappointment had floored him. Lynn stood mutely in a corner feeling guiltier than ever for her decision as she watched him pace back and forth, knocking papers, containers, ingredients on the floor with each pass. She was waging her own battle inside of her as she watched this happen. She should tell him, but what would he say. She now had not only lied to him but she had tricked him. She couldn't let him do this, she had to do something. She couldn't bring herself to tell him so she made a quick decision about how to proceed, she would let him find her and she would run away again.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Justin open the door, she walked out and stepped in front of him. She put her hands on his shoulders and forced him to look at her. His eyes caught her steely, "Get out of my way, Lynn."

She looked back at him with just as much force and answered, "No, My Prince. Just because your spell has decided to stop working doesn't mean you can start acting like a lunatic."

She kept her eyes on his face as he took a deep breath, "I have a right to angry, and I am not hurting anybody."

She kept matched his stare and stated plainly, "Stop acting like a five year old, you should be instead thinking over what might have gone wrong and trying to fix it. What can cause a spell that worked to stop working?"

She saw in his eyes, him thinking about that question and calming himself down. She stood with her hands still on his shoulders staring into his eyes not sure whether to let go or not.

He nodded to her, bringing his hands to clasp hers. "I am calm." He said as he brought her hands down. "Thank you for calming me down. I just can't believe the spell didn't work. I was so sure it was going to work." He finished as he dropped her hands and turned around and surveyed the room. "Wow, I sure did a lot of damage."

Justin brought attention to himself when he finally decided to speak, "You sure did. I didn't think you lost your temper like that anymore."

As Matt answered Justin, Lynn trying to hide confused feelings started to pick up papers on the floor. She was joined by Matt, as he picked up the paper he asked, "What CAN cause a spell that worked to stop working?"

Justin answered, "Maybe some of the herbs were no longer good, or maybe you grabbed the wrong one." Lynn listened numbly to their exchange as she began to realize that her decision was going to force her to leave these two. She didn't know why she felt like crying.

"I did the spell five times already, I don't think I could have messed up on the wrong herb five times. I'll have to check and see if the herbs are fresh enough." Matt mused.

Justin said, "Tavis gave us the focus you are using, so I don't think that is the problem. Let us check the herbs first and see if that is the problem."

"Lynn?" Matt asked, "What do you think?"

Lynn forced herself to look over at him and nod in agreement while hoping that she was keeping her confused emotions in check. She then looked back at the ground and continued her cleaning. She stayed like this until they were all down and a servant came and told Matt that his father was requesting his presence.

As he left with the servant, Justin looked at her and asked, "How did you calm Matt down so fast?"

She looked at him and just shrugged, "I don't know. I just tried to get him to look at things logically?"

He chuckled, "Logically? You're acting like a five year-old. I don't believe that is looking at things logically."

She shared his smile and then just shrugged and waited for Matt to come back. Since she made her decision not to involve him in this when was she going to go back into hiding? She had those two ball costumes, and she really wanted to go to those two balls she would leave three days from now. Just as she arrived at this conclusion Matt came back into the room with a white face. He told him what his father had said and she looked at him wondering how he could have missed all of the preparations, "You mean you really haven't noticed all the work that has been going on lately?"

He scowled at her, "I just got back late last night and have spent the whole day in here so no I haven't."

She couldn't stop herself from smiling, "We better let you get to bed because you are going to need all the energy for all that dancing you are going to be doing tomorrow."

She saw him groan and hit the heel of his hand against his head, "I hate dancing with a bunch of girls I don't know."

She listened to Justin tease, "especially when they are all trying to get you to fall in love with them so they will become a _princess_."

"Especially because of that." Matt grumbled as he headed out the door. "Lynn will you be able to go out tomorrow and get me fresh herbs to try that spell again?" He stopped at the door and asked her.

She shook her head, "I have been recruited by the headwoman, Tana to the kitchens tomorrow. I am afraid it will have to wait."

Matt nodded and said, "The first chance you get, please go and do that. I don't want this spell to be knocked to the side because of a stupid celebration."

"Even if it is your birthday?" She couldn't resist teasing him.

"Even if it is my birthday." Matt responded.

* * *

Lynn spent the whole day in the kitchens preparing mass quantities of food, she appreciated the work, it kept her mind off that she was leaving in a couple of days. She even managed to be the person who served the head table. As she approached the head table she tucked a grin away because Matt was looking positively bored already, As she came behind him she whispered into his ear, "You might want to look like you are enjoying yourself or you are going to have people concerned." She could feel him sit straighter and heard him whisper back, "Lynn, what are you doing here?"

"I am serving you your first course." She replied as she slipped a plate of spiced greens in front of him. She then quickly left before anybody noticed that she had stopped to talk with The Prince. Every time she went by him she brought back some of the news of the chaos that was happening behind the kitchen doors. She noticed that the others around him were enjoying it as well. She was proud of herself of making a boring meal a more enjoyable experience.

When the meal was over she practically ran over to Tana's rooms where Tana was going to meet her and help her get dressed for the ball. They quickly ran a hair-coloring spell over her hair that made it a deep auburn color, she wished she could have had it her normal bright red but she would have been recognized if she did. When she finally made it to the ball it had already started, she watched from the side lines for a while before slipping herself in by Matt. When she was finally passed to him she couldn't help smiling up at him, he did look very handsome in his costume she could see why all the girls were falling all over each other to get near him.

He looked down and commented that her fair matched her costume very well, she smiled widely back and said, "That is exactly what my seamstress said, if I had my druthers I would have been a witch."

She laughed with Matt before he pointed out, "I don't think they would have let you in if you were a witch. They would have been too concerned about you trying to kill me or something like that."

She smiled at him and replied, "that is exactly why I wanted to dress up as a witch to see which of the guards were really awake or not."

He laughed again, "I fear what you will come as tomorrow. Should I warn the guards?"

"No!" She mocked in fake horror, "That would take all the fun out of it."

The dance ended and she moved on to the next partner but she found her heart wasn't in it and soon left after that. She changed and then snuck up to Matt's room where she left a box of fresh herbs she had gotten even before he had gotten back from her father's place. She left a Happy Birthday note with it and snuck back down to her room.

The next morning she stuffed her auburn hair up in a handkerchief and when to work in the kitchens again all day. Unfortunately today she had to work next to Eliza who still had not forgiven her for getting picked to be Matt's servant instead of her. Eliza made her day horrible; she would try and play tricks on her or try and make her mess up on whatever she was doing so she would get yelled at. What worried Lynn the most is just after lunch, Eliza noticed that she no longer had blonde hair.

Lynn just tried to pass it off that she had gotten bored of her blonde hair and had bought a spell to change it temporarily. Eliza narrowed her eyes and didn't bring up the subject again but Lynn knew it wasn't over.

That night she didn't serve but she was in the back of the kitchen helping. Then same as the day before she ran to Tana's room and Tana helped her get ready for her last ball. Lynn had to say that she felt beautiful in the shimmering white dress that Tana had found for her. She walked into the ball and same as the night before she watched the dancing for a while before joining. As she watched she found Matt's face funny as he tried to be polite and courteous to all the girls that kept trying to catch his attention.

She then joined the dancing and was soon in front of The Prince again. "I am sorry if I got you in trouble with the natives. They seem to be trying very hard tonight to make you enjoy yourself." She commented as they started the dance.

He rolled his eyes, "They are giving me a headache. I think they came up with the jokes together because I have been hearing the same five all night long."

She twisted her mouth and pretended to think, "Let's see then we need to come up with some that you haven't heard before…. Which I am horrible at so I don't think I am going to try." She gave up without even trying.

She saw him search her hidden face before saying, "You're not going to even try?"

"Nope." She said with a quick shake of the head.

He chuckled and said, "Then what should be talk about?"

"You pick, My Prince." She said.

She watched him think for a second as he led her around the dance floor, "Let's talk about how these balls are stupid."

"You can't mean that." She teased, "Think of all the friends you're making."

Matt grimaced, "Sure whatever you say."

She smiled brightly up at him and commented, "I do say so. You are making wonderful friends, showing everybody that you can be a team player." She knew she was flirting but she couldn't help it, this was so much fun.

Matt scoffed at that and was about to give a response when it was time to switch partners and she had to move on. She disappeared soon after that dance and headed back down to Tana's room to change. She was so occupied with her musings of how the night went that she didn't notice Eliza slip out of a shadow and follow her.

When she got back to her rooms she sighed as she finally began to pack her few belongings. She knew she had to leave tomorrow. Daire was in the castle and she knew as soon as matt had a second of time he would perform that spell and find her, which meant that Daire might find her as well. And she didn't want Matt to get involved in her mess.

* * *

She didn't go to the kitchens the next day but instead she went out into town, made sure a horse would be ready for her, bought supplies and some more hair changing spells. That took up most of the day, it was already dark when she went back to the castle afterwards to grab her belongings and then would head out to the forest where her horse was waiting for her. She was heading up to her room when she stopped by Eliza.

Eliza glared at her as she asked, "You hair is back to being blonde, did you get tired of the auburn so soon?"

Lynn forced herself to calmly reply, "Yes, I got embarrassed when too many people started asking about it."

Eliza demanded, "No, you were playing dress up and going to the ball. I saw you last night in that white dress."

Lynn couldn't keep a look of surprise off her face as she gaped at Eliza, "How did you see me?"

Eliza smirked, "You were so out of it last night, you wouldn't have seen a herd of horses."

Lynn knew she was right, she hadn't been careful enough. "So what are you going to do about it?"

"I was wondering the same thing this morning and then I heard an interesting conversation between the Prince and Duke Daire. It seems the Duke is still looking for his poor lost Adilyn, and that our Prince is not very happy about it." Eliza paused trying to assess Lynn's blank face before she continued on, "I wondered about that, and then I wondered about why you would risk going to the ball. Then I figured it out, you are Lady Adilyn. That is why you can write so well, and read. But don't worry about it, I have only told one person about my discovery and he is very anxious to get his lady back." She finished the last part with an evil grin.

Lynn was very concerned now and tried to say as calmly as she could, "I am not Lady Adilyn. I just wanted to see what a ball is like that is all."

Eliza just lifted an eyebrow, sending the message that she didn't believe her.

"It is true, I am not Lady Adilyn." Lynn repeated again as she began to turn around to head in the opposite direction. As she was turning she was concentrated on Eliza and didn't see the person behind her until she ran into him. As she stumbled over apologies and tried to back up to see who she had run into. She felt hands clasp over her wrists. She was then pushed back roughly into the stone wall of the hall. She finally got a good look at her capture, although she knew who it was already. She looked up and looked into the cold brown eyes of Duke Daire.

Eliza walked by and told her, "I am glad I got you two back together. Don't worry about the Prince, I'll look after him for you." Eliza then walked around the corner of the hall and disappeared.

Lynn fought against Daire, the more she did, the more he knocked her back against the wall. She gasped out, "You have me mistaken with someone else, I am not the one you seek."

He leaned forward and whispered, "You don't fool me, Adilyn. I know it is you. You have given me a good hunt but now you are mine."

She opened her mouth to scream for help, he saw this and quickly dropped one of her hands to cover her mouth, so all that came out was a muffled scream. She squirmed against his pressure trying to find a way out. Then the pressure was gone, she opened her eyes and saw Matt there pulling Daire off of her. She took the opportunity and hid behind Matt. She buried her face into the back of Matt's jacket and tried to calm herself. She could hear Matt and Daire talking but she couldn't bring herself to focus on what they were saying. She heard some guards approach and then Matt turned and looked at her, ""Lynn, are you alright?" he asked.

Lynn numbly nodded. She felt an arm around her shoulders and felt herself being led somewhere, she didn't look up until she was sitting on the couch in the workroom. Matt then asked her what happened. She heard herself talking, this feels like a dream she thought as she told what happened with Daire, she didn't say anything about Eliza though, she wasn't quite sure why.

As she calmed down she began to notice was going around her more. She noticed that Matt was at the worktable working on something. He said a few words and then a bright light came from the spell and pointed to her. Lynn knew that she had been found out.

"You really are Addi…" Matt stated dumbfounded.

She smiled sadly at him, "I hated lying to you, but it was the only choice. I thought that Daire wouldn't look for me in the servants' quarters of the castle, especially since he hardly ever comes here. It was the perfect place to hide."

"Why didn't you tell me? Especially when I started to try and find you." Matt demanded.

She looked away, "When I first came here you were the annoying prince I always argued with, the one who never did anything for his country. And then I got to know you better and saw that it wasn't true. By then my lie had been said and I didn't know how to tell you."

She looked up at him, he was looking down at the table and surprised her when he asked, "So how should we proceed? We need to get Daire off of your back. How should we do it?"

Lynn drove down the panic, she wasn't going to get him involved, she needed a way to distract him. She smiled at him and said, "I don't know about you but I could use some sleep. Could we talk about this tomorrow?"

He sighed and agreed. He also agreed when she asked if he could stay in his workroom for the night. She watched him leave, started counting 1..2..3..4……….. When she reached 100 she stood up and took a slip of paper and wrote a simple note on it.

_I am sorry to leave you like this, Matt, but I never meant for you to get involved in my problem. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Addi._

Leaving it on the table, she went over to the cabinet that the herbs he needed for the spell was. Taking out what he used for the spell she went to the window, opened it and threw them out. She then went to the door, looked both ways before heading to her rooms, she grabbed her already packed bags and sneaked out of the castle. Jumping on her horse she had hidden in the forest earlier in the day, she headed off through the forest.

She rode for as long as she could, trying not to think of what Matt was going to say when he woke up and found the note.

Dawn was coming, she could see the sun beginning to send its rays over the mountain to her left. She slowed down and began to think again where she was going. She was going to head to the far side of the country and try to find work as a kitchen worker in an inn or something. It would take several days to get there, hopefully Matt wouldn't try to find her, she knew by throwing away his herbs she would delay him but not for long if he was serious.

She kept riding through the day trying to get as much of a led on anybody who may be following her, whether it be Matt or Daire.

By the end of the day she knew she needed to stop she was about to fall off her horse, she was looking for a spot to stop when she heard a bunch of horses come behind her and then a voice telling her to put her hands up.

She sighed wondering how she could have been so stupid to get caught by a bunch of bandits, she slowing put up her hands and waited for two of them to come around to the front of her. One of the men looked intently at her face, he said something to his partner and then both of them looked intently at her face. She was feeling frightened at the way they kept looking at her, when one of them finally talked, "Are you Lady Addi?"

Addi took a deep breath and wondered how many times she was going to be asked that in the next day. She took a risk and replied, "I am."

He smiled and then hit his partner on the shoulder, "I told you it was her. Just wait until the boss sees her." He then motioned for her to follow them. She looked behind her at the remaining two riders behind her and then followed the two men.

It wasn't very long before they rode up into the camp where they stayed. The man who had talked to her before motioned to her that she needed to follow him, she wondered what was going to happen to her. Did she leave one fire only to hop right into another one? The man led her into a big tent, as she walked through the flaps she heard the man say, "Boss, you aren't going to believe who we found in the woods."

She stepped through and found herself looking into the surprised face of a man who she used to play with when she was younger. "Robert? What are you doing here?" She demanded.

* * *

Author's note- I'll stop here, I started writing this morning and just kept writing, next thing I know I have written two very long chapters. Hopefully they aren't too long to read. I can cut them down into smaller chapters if I need to. Please review, I love reading them and they make me excited to write the next little bit.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

She stepped through and found herself looking into the surprised face of a man who she used to play with when she was younger. "Robert? What are you doing here?" She demanded.

Robert smiled up at her and laughed, "I should be asking the same question of you, My Lady. What are you doing here so close to your father's lands where you could be recognized?"

She squared her shoulders and replied, "That is none of your concern. And I believe I asked first."

Robert gave her an assessing gaze with his hazel eyes, before replying, "We are annoying that idiot Daire."

"Annoying him, how?" She asked back.

"Come sit down," He said motioning to a cushion by him, "I'll fill you in on what has been happening since you have disappeared."

Addi paused for a second wondering if she should get involved in this, but she at least owed Robert a chance to explain before she decided. She sat down and waited for him to start. She looked over at him where he was staring at her, she narrowed her eyes and asked gruffly, "What?"

"You don't look very good with blonde hair, it washes the color out of your face. Did you know that?" He commented while lifting a hand to push some hair out of her face.

She automatically leaned back, a signal to him to stop, "I know about the blonde hair that is why I picked it, nobody gives me a second look usually."

He looked at her and brought back his hand, "Anyway, since your disappearance Daire has gotten worse. He has been bullying his way into everything. Demanding taxes, putting people in jail, tearing up the countryside looking for you. He even was coming onto your father's lands and doing the same thing, which is how I got involved."

Addi looked at him sadly, "So how are you annoying him?"

Robert smiled, "We are bandits that only attack him and his soldiers. We have been intercepting money that they are transporting, goods, food, etc. I have to admit that he is getting very annoyed at us, he has actually had company of soldiers come into the forest looking for us."

Addi sighed she knew that all these people could get arrested for attacking a nobleman but she had to admit what they were doing was needed. But she couldn't get involved she needed to go her own way, "I can't stay here Robert, I can't have any part of this."

Robert looked at her, some weird sparkle in his eyes, and responded, "I fear I must disagree, My Lady. This is the safest place that you can be. Daire has not found this camp nor will he, therefore he will not find you."

She looked at him definitely, "Are you going to keep me here against my will?"

He smiled and said, "Exactly."

Addi narrowed her eyes and stood up, "You cannot do that, I need to get as far away from the castle as fast as possible."

He stood up as well with the grin still on his face, "You are safe, don't worry, My Lady. I'll protect you."

She gritted her teeth as she looked at his smug face and raised a hand and slapped him as hard as she could across the face, "I don't need your protection, I need to be on my way."

He winced at the slap and commented to her, "You still hit as hard as I remember you do, but it won't work this time. Jamal!" He called.

A large man appeared through the door, "You called me, Rob."

"Escort Lady Adilyn to the guest tent and make sure she stays in it." Robert said firmly.

She sent a parting glare to Robert and marched out of the tent where she followed Jamal through the camp to a tent sitting in the middle of the camp. She sighed when she saw its location she wasn't going to be able to escape out of this one. Jamal held the tent flap open for her and she walked inside, she saw her bags had already been delivered to the tent. Without a word she sat down on her cot and refused to look at Jamal when he asked if she needed anything. He soon gave up and left her alone.

Addi laid down on her cot without bothering to change her clothes, this was a big mess she had gotten into. She knew she shouldn't be made at Robert, he thought he was protecting her, but she didn't want to be held in a bandit's camp instead of walking around free. She also didn't want to encourage any of Robert's feelings for her that he seemed to be holding onto. She thought back to the last time she had seen him, it was over five years ago. He was a village kid in one of the villages she always went to and helped during harvest time. They needed all the help they could get and always welcomed her when she came. She enjoyed playing with him when they were younger but as they got older they would just talk now and then. Nothing more, nothing less. She wasn't even aware of his growing feelings for her until he tried to tell her. Not knowing how to deal with it at that time she avoided him. She knew that was selfish of her, she panicked and didn't know what do to, so she avoided the problem.

She finally fell into a fitful sleep, as she remembered the past.

* * *

She woke up the next morning by the sound of tent flap moving, she sat up with a start trying to see who was coming through the opening. As her eyes adjusted to the light she saw it was Jamal bringing her some breakfast. She just motioned for him to set it on the little table. He asked again is she needed anything else which she again ignored.

When he had left she went and started picking at the food on the tray. She wasn't really hungry but she knew she needed to keep her strength up. She then went through her normal morning routine. She combed her hair, and changed her clothes. She then went to the cot and stretched out on it. She let her mind wander as she looked up at the rough tent fabric, it wandered back to the castle where she wondered what Matt must be doing right now, he was probably stuck in some social event, mad at her for not telling him her secret. She laid there all morning long until Robert came storming in and asked why she had stayed in her tent.

She looked calmly up at him, not moving from position on the cot and answered, "Because I am your prisoner. And prisoner's stay in tents."

He looked at her in surprise, "When did I say you were my prisoner?" he asked.

"When you refused to let me leave the camp." She calmly answered back.

"You are not a prisoner, you are allowed to get up and walk around the camp." He replied back his face confused.

She looked over at him and asked, "Can I leave the camp and go on my way?"

He wordlessly shook his head.

"See, I am too a prisoner." She said turning her head back to look at the top of the tent again.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw his hands ball up in frustration, he then stormed out of the tent. Addi smiled she was hoping for this reaction, she spent her whole afternoon like that as well, only leaving when she had to do the necessary.

The next day she was doing the exact same thing, just lying on her cot starting up at the tent. Robert around mid-afternoon had had enough of it, he came into the tent grabbed her arm and pulled her up. He said through gritted teeth, "You are not my prisoner, stop acting like one."

She looked at him evenly, "You are not taking my wishes into consideration. I don't want to stay here, and you are keeping me here. Therefore I am your prisoner."

She winced a little as he tightened his grip around her arm. "You are coming out of this tent with me and we are going to talk about this over dinner." He started toward the door, but she pulled back causing him to look back at her.

"Robert, we were once friends and it pains me to have to say this but you are right now acting like Daire." She said frightened of his reaction.

He narrowed his eyes and spat out, "I am nothing like that idiot, how could you say that?"

She gasped as he again had tightened his hold on her arm, "I say that because you are hurting my arm, I say that because you are forcing me to do what you want me to do. You are not listening to me." She looked into his angry hazel eyes her face pleading.

He looked at her in surprise and then looked down at him hand wrapped so tightly around her arm his knuckles were white. He gasped and let go of her, looking down at her red arm he stuttered apologizes.

Addi looked at him and said, "If you are sorry, let me go."

Robert looked at her, she could see the conflict in his eyes, "Daire may find you out there. I am only trying to keep you safe."

She smiled and responded, "I know, but I don't want to be kept safe in this way. Hidden away from the world."

He nodded and then whispered, "You win, you can go."

She thanked him and reached out and squeezed his hand before grapping her bags and heading out of the tent. She was surprised to met Jamal coming toward her with her horse already saddled. He smiled and commented, "I was listening, and I knew you would win. He really just wants to keep you safe."

"I know he does, but I can't stay here. I might have company in the next day and I am trying not to get him involved."

Jamal asked, "Get who involved, Rob or your company?"

She smiled sadly, "My Company. Rob is already involved because of this bandit idea."

He nodded his head and held out the horse's reigns to her. She accepted them and thanked him for his help. She then mounted her horse and headed out of camp. She rode as long as she could through the rest of the day and through the night. She finally stopped in a small clearing just as the sun was coming up through the trees. She hobbled her horse and curled up in a corner of the clearing, and went to sleep.

* * *

Author's note- I am on fire right now, I just want to keep writing and ignore everything else I have been doing. I hope you have enjoyed reading so far. Next chapter we pick up where we left Matt. Please review.


	11. Chapter 11

Moonlightdrifter asked how Daire was pronounced; in my head I say it like Dare, almost like Darien without the en. thanks for the reviews guys they make me very happy.

* * *

Chapter 11

Matt looked around he saw a short note on the table it read.

_I am sorry to leave you like this, Matt, but I never meant for you to get involved in my problem. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Addi._

Matt threw the note on the table and cursed loudly.

He knew he could find her easily and he went to his cabinet to grab his herbs and make sure she wasn't in the castle. When he opened up the doors, he found out that the bottles were empty. He hung his head and cursed again. He should have known that she would have taken care of that. He started pacing thinking out loud, "What is she thinking? She is only going to get herself caught if she is out there by herself. She is easy game for Daire." He stopped pacing and remarked, "I currently have Daire under my guard. I wonder how long I can keep him like that? Long enough to have me find Addi and get her to safety."

As he mused this last thought, he heard a knock on the door, puzzled he called, "Come in."

There was Eliza with a breakfast tray, she must have read the confused expression on his face because she answered confidently, "I am your new servant."

He just stared at her and said, "I want you to go and get the Headwoman for me."

She looked surprised and asked, "Why?"

He glared at her, "I don't have to tell my reason to you, and I want you to go get Tana for me, now."

She set the tray down and walked out the door. Matt sat down and started to pick at his breakfast as he tried to get his jumbled thoughts together. It was odd that Eliza had known Lynn was gone, she had also assumed that he would just pick her and go on. Maybe Eliza had something to do with Daire finding out who Lynn really was? He had just completed the thought when Eliza and Tana walked in through the door. He sent Eliza out, shut the door, and activated his spell to prevent eavesdroppers. He turned around to look at Tana and asked, "Did you know that Lynn was really Lady Addi?"

Tana smiled and replied, "You finally figured it out."

"I'll take that as a yes then." Matt sighed.

"She didn't want you to get involved but I don't think she realized how involved she was getting with you." Tana remarked.

Matt looked up at her surprised, "What do you mean by that?"

Tana just shrugged, and didn't answer, instead asked, "What are you going to do now?"

He looked out the window and replied, "I need to get my father to agree to keep Daire under lock and key for a while and then I am going after her."

Tana smiled saying, "That sounds like a good course of action. You better get moving, she has a half day lead on you."

Matt smirked, "But she can't hide from me as long as I have this." And he held up a gold necklace. What he didn't say was he needed to grab more herbs before he could perform that little spell again. He escorted Tana out the door and went to go talk with his father.

Matt found his father in the library, "Father," He said, causing his father to look up quickly from the book he was reading. "I need to talk to you about something."

His father motioned for him to come and sit down. Matt started explaining everything that happened over the last day and how he had finally found Lady Addi.

"It took you long enough to figure it out son. She was right besides you the whole time."

Matt made a face and complained, "Did everyone know who she was but me?"

His father just laughed.

Matt continued on how he was going to go after and he wanted to make sure Daire was detained until he could catch up to her.

The King sighed, "If you want to make the charge that Daire assaulted your servant, I can only keep him locked up for four days tops. If you made it known that it was Lady Addi, I can detain him for longer."

Matt thought about that and shook his head, "No, I don't know if many people will believe that it was Lady Addi and I don't know if my plan will work so I will take as long as you can give me."

"Four days, starting today and then I have to let him go. But you cannot go off today, you have to attend tonight's ball. All the guild masters are here and they want to see you. There is also a guild meeting tomorrow morning, you can't not leave until tomorrow afternoon."

Matt looked at his father in panic, he knew that he needed to be there and start building a good relationship with them but he needed to go after Addi, she was getting farther and farther away as he dallied. His father shook his head and Matt knew he could not skip these meetings.

After he raided Twymn's stores to replace his missing herbs, he spent the day with a bland mask forced onto his face. He couldn't let people know that he was going off to chase Addi or that would ruin the whole secret.

* * *

The ball was spent with meeting this guild master and talking to that master. He hardly danced at all, (to his relief) he just spent the night talking away. After the ball, he was pulled into more decisions about guild matters and his opinions. As he went to bed, he was dreading a whole other meeting of the same things. But he was going to have to deal with these when he gained the crown might as well get used to them now.

The morning inched along, Matt found himself looking out the window frequently wondering when the meeting was going to be over so he could leave. He wasn't paying attention to any of the talking that was going on, and he could have sworn that his father kept looking at him on the verge of laughter.

When the meeting was finally over Matt made the quickest apologizes for having to take off so fast and he bolted down to the kitchens where Tana had promised him that she would have lunch ready for him so he could leave as soon as the meeting was over.

He hurried and ate his lunch while his horse was being brought around. He climbed into his horse and activated the locator spell he had ready. It pointed towards the forest, he followed it as fast as he dared make the horse go.

He followed the same path, Addi did. He also pressed on, just as Addi did. He traveled through the night, finally forced to stop at first light when he almost fell off the horse. He walked around for a few minutes and decided to take a quick nap before continuing. Matt fell into a light sleep quickly and seemed to wake up moments after he had put his head down. He looked up for the sun and found it almost overhead. He had slept most of the morning. He swung himself into the saddle and ate lunch on the way. He kept looking at his spell to make sure he was heading in the right direction. In the late afternoon, he heard somebody come up behind him. He looked around and saw four men on horses. The lead one smiled and commented, "I think this is the company that the boss warned us about."

Matt raised an eyebrow at him and asked, "Company, I didn't know I was going to be company for anybody."

The man spoke again, "The boss just wants to talk to you, so if you would please follow us." He motioned to a thin side trail that separated off the trail they were on.

Matt responded in a polite voice, "And if I don't want to talk to your boss, then what?"

The man sighed, "Then we would have to use force and you won't like that."

"You are just taking me to talk, right?" Matt asked.

"Yep, that is what we were told."

Matt motioned for him to take the lead and then followed him, the other three men following behind.

It was soon that they rode into a camp, Matt dismounted and followed his guide to a tent. He walked inside and saw a man about the same age as him with hazel eyes. Matt stood and watched his man as he smiled up at him from the cushion that he was sitting from.

"Please sit down, I have some questions for you." He said.

Matt remained standing and asked, "Who are you? And why do you wish to talk to me?"

The man sighed, "My name is Robert, Rob for short. And we have a common friend in a rather vexing young lady."

Matt sat down and asked, "What do you know of Addi?"

Robert looked at him sadly and responded, "She left this camp a couple of hours ago. Before she left she mentioned to my friend Jamal that she thought that she had someone following her from the castle. I never imagined that it would be the Prince himself."

Matt stood back up and asked, "She left here only a few hours ago, I need to catch up with her. I am sorry I have to go so soon."

"Please sit down, I want to talk to you and you will not be going anywhere until we have had that talk." Robert said with a voice edged with steel.

Matt looked at the two men who were by the entrance and decided to play his game for the moment. "Aright then what do you want to talk about?"

"Why are you following Addi?" Robert asked.

"Because the fool ran off before I could explain a plan that could get her out of this mess." Matt answered true fully.

"You're not going to throw her into some hiding place for her own protection?" Robert asked.

Matt laughed, "No that wouldn't go any good, she would just find some way to get out of it and then I wouldn't be able to find her again. We need to clear this mess up once and for all so we don't have to worry about where she is."

Robert nodded his expression pained, "I just tried to get her to stay in this camp where I could protect her and she would have none of it. You speak the truth. I wish I knew that before I tried to get her to stay."

Matt asked, "How do you know her?"

Robert looked away for a moment and then started, "I used to live in a village that as a child she would come by and help with the harvest every year. We would play at nights while the adults were resting. And let's say I developed a fondness for her as the years passed."

"She actually helped with the harvesting?" Matt asked.

Robert laughed, "She did. At first everyone thought she was just a young girl that would drop in for some work. She didn't tell anyone that she was the Lady Addi. After I think about four years of doing that, she was there working helping get lunch ready for the workers when her father came riding into town looking for her. You could imagine everyone's surprise when he found her. I watched from the shadows as Lord Artt tried to get Addi to come back and forget this foolishness. She wouldn't, she whispered something to him, he then left and let her stay. I don't know what she said but she came back every year after that until she disappeared running from that idiot Daire."

Matt sat still for a moment before shaking his head and smiled, "I knew that girl loved to help her people but I hadn't realized how much. It probably kills her not to be helping with the harvest right now."

Robert sighed as he looked at the young prince, "You need to go and catch up with her, she needs someone to keep her out of trouble." He stood up and held out his hand.

Matt stood up and clasped his hand, wondering why he felt like he was being passed a big responsibility.

Before he left the camp though, Robert came up to him and handed him a green summon stone, saying, "If you need any help protecting her, summon me please. I will be there as quick as I can."

Matt took it and nodded his head. He then headed off in the direction his spell told him Addi was. He had lost most of the remaining daylight with his odd talk with Robert, he was going to have to ask Addi what was going on between them. He continued going through the night, at the break of dawn he debuted about stopped for a quick rest. When he saw how bright the spell was getting he continued on. Four hours later he rode up to her horse but no Addi. He looked around the clearing and saw her tucked away at the back, asleep. He smiled to himself as he started to make a fire. Only when he had the fire going and had some stew warming over it, did he approach her.

He lightly touched her shoulder and quickly jumped back as she sat up with blinding speed. He let out a quite chuckle as she looked at him with sleepily eyes.

"You want some lunch, fair lady?" He asked.

She scowled at him and asked how he had caught up to her so fast. He pretended not to hear as he took a bowl out and scoped some stew for her. She got up and stretched, walked over to him and took the bowl. As she ate, he kept one eye on her watching her, trying to make sure she was alright. They both finished at the same time, as she handed him her empty bowl he saw a large bruise forming on her right forearm. He lightly grabbed her hand and looked at it, barely noticing her small attempts to reclaim her arm. He took one of his hands and lightly wrapped it around the bruise, noticing that it had been made by a gripping hand. He let go and asked her how she got the bruise. She shrugged and mumbled something about an argument.

He walked over to his bags and fished out a small cream bottle, she smiled at him and asked if his hands were chapped and he needed some lotion to help them get all soft again.

He rolled his eyes and held out his hand for her arm, when she hesitated he said, "It is a healer's cream. The castle healer makes it up for me. It is very good at helping bruises." Addi sighed and gave him her hand. He scoped up the cream out of the jar and gently started rubbing it on her arm. He heard Addi let out a breath of relief as the cream took effect. He watched her bruise start shrinking in size. Satisfied he let go of her arm and went to return the jar to his bags. Behind him he heard her whisper, "Thank you."

He stood up and walked over to her, when he was just in front of her he remarked, "Can you promise me something?"

Addi looked up at him and said, "It depends on what you ask."

He looked at her searching her face, "Can you promise me that you will never run away from me again?"

She looked at him in surprise and after seeing how earnest he was, she answered, "I can promise that. I'm sorry. I was trying not to get you involved."

He chuckled, "I believe I got myself involved when I started searching for the girl that was right beside me."

She smiled at him and shrugged.

"What is your plan?" Matt asked.

She paused and then answered, "I was going to go to the far end of the country and find some work over there."

"You're going to go hide again." She looked away when he said that.

"I have a better plan, it might be a little risky but I think it might work to end all of this."

She looked sharply up at him and asked, "What?"

"Daire's parents, Duke Samuel and Duchess Alia, are not happy what he doing to his people and on his search for you. I think I can help talk them over to passing his right to inherit to his little brother. Making him a common man that doesn't have a right to touch you."

"How are you going to convince my father?" She asked.

"I think I might have something to offer him instead of your marriage to that idiot."

Addi squared her shoulders and asked, "Tell me."

Matt shrugged his shoulders and went on, "So I would like you to come with me to talk with Duke Samuel and Duchess Alia, and help me convince them that they need to take some action. Will you come?"

"Will you tell me what you are going to tell my father?"

Matt shrugged again and said, "Maybe, but you have to come along to hear it."

Addi nodded and agreed to come with him to talk to Duke Samuel and Duchess Alia.

Matt put out the fire while Addi saddled her horse. They were then on the road, Matt explained to her how his father was going to keep Daire locked up in the castle for another day and then he had to release him. So they had to careful not to be caught by him until they had talked to both sets of parents.

Addi nodded and explained what had happened with her and Robert, how he had tried keeping her there so he could keep her safe.

Matt listened to that in confusion as he tried to figure out what he was feeling and asked, "So is there anything in-between you two?"

Addi looked over at him and smiled, "Not like that, we were friends when we were younger but now I'm not quite sure I would call it that. He has changed."

They rode in a comfortable silence until they came close to a town as the sun was setting, Matt stopped and looked over at her, "Is town is on your father's lands, right? Would they recognize you? Or can we sleep in a comfortable bed tonight?"

She looked at the town and answered, "This town is Browning, I haven't been here in maybe seven years. I doubt anybody would recognize me. Let's go and find the inn."

* * *

Author's note- the week has started and I have to go back to work, so I think my writing frenzy has been stopped momentarily but the weekends come fast. Thanks for the reviews Dayys and Moonlightdrifter.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Matt watched warily as he followed Addi through the town and to the inn. Everybody seemed to be bustling around preparing for something. By the time they walked into the inn he knew something was going on. Addi seemed to be picking up on all of the excitement and was looking around excitedly. He walked up to the front desk and asked if they had two rooms open for the night. The clerk looked at him and Addi who was behind him and nodded. She then asked, "Would you like to attend the mid-summer dance that the town is holding tonight?"

Addi peeked over his shoulder, "A dance?"

"Yes, a dance. Would you like to go?" The lady asked again.

Matt could feel Addi smiling as she looked over his shoulder, he shrugged her off and sent a small glare at her, "I'm sorry," he started, "I think we will just take the rooms."

Addi pushed him out of the way and complained, "You're such a spoil-sport, I am going to go to the dance, you can stay holed up in your room if you want to." She grabbed the key from the lady and started heading up to her room. Matt rolled his eyes and accepted the other key and headed after her. He deposited his bags in his room and went over to her room, knocking politely on the door. "Wait a moment." Came a voice from the other side. He leaned up against the door frame and waited, he could hear her moving around the room. When she opened it, she looked completely fresh, she had changed from her riding clothes to a lovely green dress that looked great on her. He stopped and stared at her, she smiled up at him, "Aren't you going to change? The dance will start in a little while, it will be great fun."

He pulled his eyes away and remarked, "I don't think going is a good idea, Addi. What if someone recognizes you?"

She scoffed at him, "You don't understand, if we don't go it will raise more question than if we do go. We don't have to stay the whole time, just go enjoy some dances and food and then leave."

Matt looked down at her, feeling his cross mood melting away. He knew she was right, he sighed and saw her smile. She pushed him away from her door and teased, "You need to get cleaned up then. I'll meet you downstairs."

Matt turned around and headed back to his room pulling out a pair of clean clothes to change into. He came downstairs and looked around looking for Addi. He saw her in the corner talking to Marin, the lady who had given them their keys. He came and stood behind her, she looked back at him and gave him a half-smile that caused his heart to beat faster. He absently smiled back her, trying not to show any emotion on his face. She then grabbed his arm and half-dragged him out to where the town square where the musicians were getting ready to start the dance. He looked around at the set-up as she hooked her arm through his and gently pulled him to a table.

They had just barely sat down when a maid appeared and put some food in front of them. Matt watched as Addi looked at the plate of baked chicken and vegetables, and began to eat fast. He hid away a smile and began eating his own dinner. After he was done he leaned back in his chair and watched the dancers weaving back and forth to the music. Addi was sitting next to him tapping her fingers on the table to the beat. He was trying not to make eye-contact with her because he knew that she wanted a dance. He kept looking everywhere but her, as he looked around he saw a young man with dark hair, looking at both of them. He sneaked a quick look at Addi, to see if she noticed her admirer. She seemed to be watching the dancing, and not anybody else.

He looked back over to the admirer and saw that he was now walking this way. He fought down the urge to put his arm around Addi and glare at this man, he looked away and forced himself to look over at the dancers until he heard a voice, "Does the pretty lady have a name?"

He heard a scoff, "Flattery won't get you anywhere. Do you want something?" Addi's voice said.

He heard the young man pause then respond, "Your name and a dance." He said plainly.

Addi said then, "You haven't told me your name yet. I can't dance with someone I don't know."

"My name is Oliver. Can I have yours now?" He said patiently.

"Lynn." He heard Addi answer, he felt a light touch on his shoulder, he looked over and saw Addi looking at him, she gave him a hint of a smile and said, "I am going to dance with Oliver." He nodded blankly and watched as Oliver whisked her out to the dance floor.

He couldn't keep his eyes off her as they were dancing around the square. He knew what he wanted, he wanted to be the one up there holding her as they spun around the dance floor, but he wasn't quite sure about what she thought of him, if he made advances toward her, would she run like she had with the others? He looked around the square trying to think of anything but that. He saw some other gentlemen talking at another table. They looked like merchants and if that was true they traveled the road frequently and could tell him about conditions of the road, and also if any of Daire's men were on prowl in the area.

He walked over and said a greeting. As he sat down he started, "Me and my companion are heading out tomorrow and would some information about the roads. Have any of you traveled the roads lately?"

One of the men gestured for him to sit. "I came in yesterday. The roads are nice and dry and easy to travel on, but I think you mean more than the conditions of the roads. Are you looking for anything in particular?"

Matt chuckled at that comment, "You must be reading my mind, because yes I am. I have heard of travelers getting in trouble with some of Duke Daire's men who are out on patrol. I would like to avoid that if possible."

The traveler nodded his head, "She is a pretty lady."

Matt looked at him in surprise, "What!"

"Your companion, she is pretty. You want to keep her away from his men."

Matt nodded, "You hit it right on the spot. Do have anything that might help me?"

He nodded, "There is a patrol out on the road that leads to Daire's land. I would avoid that road. As far as I know that is all there is currently."

"Thank you for your help, I will be sure to avoid that road." Matt said.

His companion looked away from his face and smiled, "It looks like your lady is searching for her dance."

Matt looked over his shoulder and saw Addi coming towards him. He turned in his chair so he was facing her. She smiled as she made eye contact with him, and she held out her hand saying, "Can I have the honor of the next dance?"

Matt rolled his eyes, "You know I don't like dancing."

That caused her smile to broaden and she leaned forward and whispered in his ear, "All these fine gentlemen are looking at you and wondering why you do not dance with your fair traveling companion."

Matt sighed knowing she was right and he needed to accept this dance. He was secretly glad that she had asked, and he could hide behind his mask of hiding his feelings. He stood up and accepted her still extended hand and led her out to the dance floor where the musicians were starting a new song. He put his hand gently no her waist and drew he in, before starting the steps of the dance.

She looked up at him quizzically and asked, "What were you talking about with those men?"

"About whether Daire has any patrols on the roads we need to avoid. Which he does, I am afraid we are going to have to take the back roads to talk to his parents." He responded in her ear. He felt her hair brush his cheek as she nodded to his comment. He took a deep breath and slowly left it out as he backed his face from her, then asked, "Are you having fun dancing?"

She smiled, "I love country dances. Here it really doesn't matter who you dance with, or if you made them laugh. People just like dancing. Unlike those balls of yours where one laugh from you has everyone glaring daggers at me."

Matt looked at her in surprise and then starting laughing, "Of course you are the mystery lady. I thought it was Addi but I had not connected it to you yet. I really liked dancing with you at those balls."

She was enjoying the good laugh with him and answered, "I did too, it is always fun to crash balls and make everyone jealous of you."

She looked up at him her face turning serious, "Do you know what road you are going to take when we leave tomorrow?"

"I have a map in my room, and was planning on looking at it with you before we retired for the night." He responded.

Her hand on his shoulder pushed him a little bit as she teased, "We are not at court, don't talk like it."

"What did I say?" He mocked back.

"Retire for the night. Normal people say go to sleep."

"I am not normal, if you don't mind." Matt shot back at her.

She just grinned back up at him.

Matt suddenly noticed the song coming to an end and he stopped and mocked, "Does my lady wish to dance again, or shall we return and plan our trip tomorrow before _retiring_ for the night?"

She stuck her tongue out at him and put her hand on his arm before commenting, "Let's go back, tomorrow is going to come early."

He gave her a full court bow as he walked with her back to the inn.

Once they were in his room, he pulled out his map. Addi quickly located the town they were in and where Daire's family castle was. Matt pointed at the main road, "The merchants I was talking to said that Daire has a patrol on this road. It will take us twice as long if we take the back roads. My father has to release Daire tomorrow, he could catch up to us."

Addi winched, "If he can find out where we were going?"

Matt shook his head, "If he has good spies I bet he knows the direction that we are headed. He might even double the patrols he has out."

Addi looked down at the map and traced the main road with her fingers, she then sighed and began to trace other roads, "If we take this road, I know many of the farmers who live by it. We could have places to sleep and get food along the way. Once we cross into Daire's lands, that advantage will be gone but it will be handy for the first half of the trip."

"That is as good of a route as any of the other roads. Let's head out that way first." Matt decided. He looked over and saw Addi yawn. He shooed her out of his room and bade her to get some sleep before they headed out tomorrow. He went back and looked at the map again, he was worried it would only take Daire two days to catch up to them, if he rode hard and took the main road instead of the forest road they had taken. He was beginning to wonder if he should have brought a riding of guards with him. While he was the Prince, he was still only one man up against all of Daire's patrols.

* * *

He woke up early the next morning, the sun had not even risen yet. He went downstairs to make sure they had the provisions and supplies for their journey. As he came back from the stables Marin was at the counter getting ready for the day.

"Getting an early start, are we?" She asked.

He walked over to her and answered, "Yes, as soon as my companion wakes up we will be on the road."

"She looked like she enjoyed the dancing last night." Marin said keeping the conversation going.

"She did, she even convinced me to share a dance with her." Matt replied.

"I saw that. Your lady trusts you a great deal, I hope you realize." Marin said delicately.

Matt looked at her quizzically. She went on, "As she danced, she kept looking at you. And then as soon as she danced with you, she was ready to come back to the inn." Marin held up a finger, stopping his response to her observation, "There is also the fact that she is riding with you. _My Lady _does not follow other people well."

Matt looked at her wondering what she was talking about, he had noticed the emphasis on the words My Lady, but what did she mean? Unless she knew who Addi really was… "Do you know her?" he asked cautiously.

"I have met her several times in my life, and never will forget her. And if you help her out of this situation, I will never forget you, Your Highness."

Matt was instantly on guard and he whispered, "How did you know that?"

She chuckled at his reaction which made him even more on edge, "I know this merchant who tried to kill you with a crossbow."

He narrowed his eyes and breathed, "I take it you and Thomas are good friends."

"We are, he came by last week, explaining an odd encounter he just had with the Prince and his servant Lynn." She explained.

Matt then asked, "Do you have the same ideas as Thomas does about our Lady friend?"

"If you mean I want her to be safe and that idiot Daire to be killed, yes I do."

Matt finally allowed himself to relax, knowing their secret was safe and asked, "You really think she trusts me that much?"

Marin nodded and spoke, "Yes, she does." She then looked up and remarked, "Lynn, your companion was just getting everything ready for your departure. Did you sleep well?"

Addi's eyes quickly looked over at him and back to Marin, "I did sleep well. Thank you for asking. Has my companion made arrangements for breakfast because that is all I want at the moment?"

Marin smiled and said, "Yes, if you will sit by him, I will bring it right out."

Addi came and sat by him and remarked under her breath, "Why do I get the feeling that you were talking about something more than breakfast?"

Matt shrugged, and didn't answer the question. Marin came back and served their breakfast and they ate in a still silence.

When they were finally on the road, Addi asked again, "What was going on in the inn before I came down?"

Matt looked over at her and knew he wasn't getting out of answering this time, replied, "She knew who we really are. She won't tell but I was still surprised."

Addi looked thoughtful before answering, "It will be alright, it is okay for friends to know us. Just as long as Daire doesn't find us."

Matt nodded and then gathered up the courage to ask, "Addi, will you promise me to answer this next question true fully?"

Addi looked at him confused, and then narrowed her eyes. "The only reason you ask me to promise to answer the question before I hear it, is you know I won't answer it. So no, I won't promise."

Matt made a face and then decided to sweeten the pot, "If you answer my question true fully I will answer one of your true fully."

Addi looked at him skeptically, and then answered, "You have yourself a deal. What is your question?"

Matt steeled himself up and asked, "Why did you accept my plan and come with me? When I think about it now, I expected more of a fight. It should have been harder to convince you, but it wasn't. Why did you come with me and not stay with Robert?"

Addi looked at him with a look he couldn't quite place and answered, "Because I knew you would get me out of this mess. I know that running away every time wasn't solving anything, but I didn't know what else to do. As with not staying with Robert, I frankly don't trust that man. He would have kept me locked up in his little camp and would have tried to control me. But I trust you, I know that you will do everything you can to keep me safe." Matt watched her as she stopped talking looking down at her horse saddle.

They rode for about an hour in silence. He was thinking about what both Addi and Marin just said. He was trusted and he felt the responsibility of that trust, he didn't want to break it no matter what.

Addi interrupted his thoughts by then saying, "It is your turn to answer my question. What are you going to say to my father to change his mind about the marriage to Daire?"

* * *

Author's note- try and guess how Matt is going to respond. I'll update soon. I hoped you enjoyed the chapter and tell me what you think.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Addi interrupted his thoughts by then saying, "It is your turn to answer my question. What are you going to say to my father to change his mind about Daire?"

Matt winced he knew that she saw that and was mad at himself for doing it. He mulled over what he could say that would be the truth. He could feel her eyes watching him as he thought about his answer, he looked over at her sheepishly, "Could I possibly answer this later? Maybe when we get to your father's castle?"

Addi smiled crookedly and shook her head, "No, I answered your question, you answer mine now."

He sighed as he looked down at his saddle and mentally kicked himself for bringing this whole thing up. His best bet was to say it as vague as possible. He looked back up at her and said, "There were two ideas that I had, the first one is to point out that Daire is no longer a Duke and it a marriage to him no longer has an advantage. I should be able to convince him of that." Matt paused wondering if he could get away with stopping there.

But Addi prompted him to continue by saying, "The second idea is…"

"To offer a marriage to someone else," he saw Addi raise her eyebrows and hastily added, "One that you would approve first of course."

He saw her give him a thoughtful look, fighting a smile. "Do have any ideas who these eligible gentlemen are going to be? So I can think it over."

Matt swallowed, she wasn't letting him off like he hoped she would have, "There is the Prince, of course." He tried to say as off-handily as he could.

He heard her comment, "I will have to think about that one, I know he is a wonderful travel companion, a great magician, and will be a great king one day. So I have to say he is a definite choice."

Matt felt hope wash through his whole body as he heard that. It almost seemed as if she was teasing him a little bit but he also could tell that she was telling the truth. It gave him hope that she might feel the same way about him that he felt for her.

Night came too soon and they were too far away to stay at a farmer's house, they found a small clearing away from the road and camped for the night. All day and that night they hadn't said anything about that conversation. Matt knew that she was thinking about it as much as he was but they never talked about it with each other.

They rode for much of the morning without difficulty, they had stopped at a stream to give the horses a drink when Matt heard horse hooves coming from behind them. He motioned for Addi to take her horse and go deeper into the forest. He quickly followed her and they were soon hidden. Matt watched from his hiding spot as he watched ten men on horses gallop past. They were wearing the colors of Daire's guards. Matt wondered how they were going to get past these guards. He was no watch for ten men. Addi didn't have any experience fighting so she couldn't help him. He was worried about how he was going to keep her safe. He waited until the men had disappeared from view, before speaking. "This road is no longer safe for you, Addi. We need to change our route."

Addi shook her head, "We would have to backtrack to Browning in order to change roads. There is a farmer named Andon about another hour or two down this road, I am very good friends with his family. They can hide us until we figure out what to do."

Matt bit his lip thinking about the possibilities of this plan. "We need to stay off the road, we will have walk the horses most of the way, which will slow us down further."

Addi nodded and brought her horse around behind her and gestured that he lead the way. They stumbled through the woods for several hours, having to hide as several travelers passed on the road they were keeping parallel to. Another patrol of guards rode by as the afternoon wore on. They stopped at the end of the woods looking out on a big field. Addi said, "This is the beginning of Andon's farm." She pointed to the right, "His house is over there."

Matt nodded; he mounted his horse and saw Addi do the same. He led them along the worn trail that circled the field. He kept his eyes alert and on the prowl as they rode. He saw a lone man walking through the fields on his right and motioned for Addi to look at him. She looked at him and nodded, "I believe that is Andon. It is hard to tell for sure but I am pretty sure that it is him."

Matt looked back over at the man and noticed he had noticed them and was walking towards them. They stopped their horses and waited. Matt felt restless; they needed to get out of the open and into a safe place. He looked back over at the man and he was smiling as he got close enough to talk, "I see that those patrols are indeed right and you are in the area, My Lady." He finished with a small bow.

Addi dismounted and went up to hug him, "They are correct, I am trying to avoid them. Can you help me and my companion?"

Andon looked at him and then back at her, "I will do everything I can to help you. Let's get you back to the house where you will have some cover."

Addi walked with him on foot talking with him about some of the events of the past months. Matt decided to stay on his horse where he had a better view of what was around them. When they reached the house a young woman stepped out and silently took both of the horses and led them around back. He watched Addi's confused face as she asked, "Is there anything wrong with Nee?"

Andon shook his head, "She realizes that you need to get inside the house, so come on, we can ask questions later." He waved them into the doorway.

They sat down at the kitchen table as Addi hugged Ardell, Andon's wife and began explaining what was happening and what their problems were. He was glad that Addi just introduced him as a friend and not the prince.

Ardell looked over at him and asked, "So you have been helping Our Lady through this, how do you expect to get her to Duke Samuel and Duchess Alia now? That idiot has had guards patrolling the road all day."

"That is why we stopped here, we were first hoping to get there before the patrols started but now I don't know how to proceed." Matt said frustrated. "I need to go talk with Duke Samuel and Duchess Alia but I can't put Addi in trouble."

"And you were going to go talk to Lord Artt after you finished talking with Duke Samuel and Duchess Alia?" Andon asked.

"Yes, we were." Matt answered.

"I think I may have an idea," Andon started. "I don't think you'll like it, My Lady." He looked over at her concerned.

"Let's hear it, it may be our only chance." Addi responded in a dull tone.

At this point Nee came in the door, "I just finished caring for the horses and on the way back I saw a patrol headed here. We should hide them just in case."

Andon looked at Addi and motioned for her to follow him. They went into a room and he pulled up some of the floorboards to reveal a small hole. He looked at Addi as he helped her get in. "I'll explain later why I have this, it is only big enough for you. Matt will be hidden in another spot." Matt then watched him carefully put the boards back into place. It didn't even look like they could be pulled up.

Andon then motioned for Matt to follow him, when they were in the hallway he admitted, "I don't have a place for you. Do you have a good reason to have stopped at my place for the night by yourself?"

Matt nodded, "I was lost in the forest looking for game to hunt. I got lost though, and stumbled upon your fields. You offered to let me spend the night before I head back tomorrow. How's that?"

Andon half-smiled and said, "You're a born liar."

"Thank you, I think we should get back to the table and look like we are talking about something while waiting for dinner." Matt suggested.

They walked back to the table and started up a discussion on the best forest trails to take to the city, Foith. There was a hard pounding on the door, they stayed at the table while Ardell opened it up. Matt was quickly going through his story again when he heard a familiar cold voice say, "We are searching your house for a run away." Matt stood up and straightened his clothes; he knew that was coming as soon as Daire forced his way into the house. He could feel Andon looking at him wondering why he was standing. Matt leaned up against the table and folded his arms and waited. He didn't have to wait long before Daire came striding into the room. He stopped in surprise as soon as he caught sight of Matt waiting for him.

Daire pointed a finger at him and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Matt shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I got lost in the forest while trying to avoid your patrols. This fine family offered to take me in for the night."

"Where is she?" Daire demanded.

"You're going to have to be more specific than that, who are you talking about?" Matt proceeded calmly.

"You know who I am talking about! Where is Adilyn?!" Daire demanded.

"Oh, that her… I don't know where she is." Matt responded, "I have been trying to find her as well. You're not the only one she can hide from."

Daire stomped up to him and said with anger, "I had her and you let her go."

Matt looked him evenly in the eyes and responded, "My servant Lynn, was not Adilyn. You have her confused. Lynn was so distraught over that incident in the hall that I let her have a few weeks to go home and relax. I am spending that time trying to find the real Adilyn."

"I don't believe you, Matthew." Daire spat out and brought his face closer to Matt's, "I will find her if I have to tear this house apart." He turned to go get his guards when Matt reached out and grabbed Daire's arm.

"You are not tearing this house apart. This family has been nice enough to bring me into their home for the night. I will not let you punish them for that." Matt said with steel.

Daire shrugged off Matt's grasp and asked him, "You'll stop me how?"

"Oh, I could stop you." Matt bluffed, "But even if I couldn't it is not a wise idea to disobey my orders. Especially when you are not on your lands and have no cause to search the house."

Daire narrowed his eyes and approached him again, "Just because you are the Prince, doesn't mean you get everything your way."

Matt heard a gasp from the farmers beside him and sighed, "Daire, I was trying to stay in disguise. Did you have to say that I was the Prince?"

Daire smiled, "No, but I do like messing with your plans. Since I am told that I cannot search these houses along this road I guess I will have to move on and look for My missing Lady somewhere else."

"Daire," Matt called out as Daire started to walk to the door, "I don't want to hear of any raids after I have departed either. You need to remember where you land starts and ends."

Daire turned around and mockingly bowed at him, "I wouldn't dream of going against your orders, My Prince. But you need to remember you cannot control everything I do." And with that Daire was gone.

Matt let out a deep breath and closed his eyes wondering if his bluff worked or not, would Daire leave these people alone? He opened them to find all three of the little family staring at him. He sighed and said, "I'm sorry I lied to you, but a traveling Prince makes more gossip than I wanted at the moment."

Andon finally stepped forward and held out his hand, "I am proud to have a Prince like you. You stood up for us, even though you were outnumbered."

Matt clasped his hand reluctantly, "For right now my word will stop him, but after I leave I don't know if it will or not."

"He will be more cautious, probably won't tear the house down but will still search it. But he won't find anything." Andon said confidently.

Matt said, "Can I hear about your plan? The one you were about to tell us before the Idiot walked in. I would like to hear it before Addi turns it down."

Andon chuckled, "She isn't going to like it, and you might not either. You don't need My Lady to go and talk to Duke Samuel and Duchess Alia. Let her stay hidden here while you go talk with his parents. Then when you come back to talk with her father you can come through and pick her up."

Matt thought about his plan for a few moments, "Do you go to Foith often?" he asked.

Andon nodded, "It is only a day from here every two weeks I take a wagon full of vegetables to sell at market. The next time I am going is in three days."

"Good, I have a friend in Foith. His name is Eric, he is a mage. Do you know him?" Matt asked.

"Yes, I do. He always buys from me."

"Alright, I will leave Addi here and I want you to hide her in your wagon when you go to Foith. Eric will take her there and keep her there until, I go and pick her up. Does that sound good?"

Andon responded, "We still need to run it by My Lady. She needs to agree to it."

Matt grimaced, "This is going to be interesting." They walked over to the room where Addi was hiding. Andon pulled up the floorboards while he reached his hand down to help her out.

When she was up Addi looked at both of them curiously, "What happened?" She demanded.

Matt nervously ran his hands through his hair, "Well, I didn't get an opportunity to hide and so I had the lovely opportunity to have a chat with Daire."

"What?" Addi asked dumbfounded. "You talked with him. But then he knows that I am here."

Matt shook his head, "I think I convinced him that I was still searching for you. But this affects the way we continue from this point on. We have to split up Addi." He finished watching her carefully.

She narrowed her eyes and asked bluntly, "What do you mean split up?"

"Andon helped me with this plan, I am going to continue on my way alone to go talk to Duke Samuel. Just as if I was still searching for you. You are going to stay here until they take you to Foith where my friend Eric will take care of you until I can come pick you up." Matt said quickly and then he braced himself for her to blow up at him.

She instead looked down, apparently thinking about his plan. She looked up at him, her eyes searching his for something else. She then shook her head, "No, there has to be another way. I am not going to stay here while you go and take on Daire."

"Addi," Matt pleaded, "I am not going to take on Daire. I am just going to go talk with his parents. Do you have a way to make my story that I told Daire tonight seem plausible? I have to go on alone. Or he'll just catch you a mile down the road. Because I guaranteed that he will be watching me leave tomorrow."

Addi looked down, she seemed lost, "I don't know what else to do." She conceded, "But I don't want to leave you by yourself."

Matt reached out and lifted her chin bringing her eyes up to his, "I am not going to be by myself. When I passed though Robert's camp he gave me a summons stone and a promise that he would help. I have already summoned him. I will join with several of his guards for support as I go into Daire's lands. I won't be alone."

Addi made a face, "Did you have to call Robert? Now I owe him."

Matt laughed as he dropped his hand from her face, "No, I will be the one who owes him. He is going to enjoy that one."

Matt looked behind him at Andon, "Andon is going to hide you until he can get you to Eric, You will need to follow his advice." He warned her.

Addi made a dismissing wave with her hand and commented, "I know. But I really need right now is some dinner. We haven't had it yet, as my stomach is reminding me right now."

Ardell laughed from somewhere behind him and said, "Let's go get some dinner and talk about this plan of yours later."

* * *

Early the next morning, Matt was all dressed and ready to go. Ardell was packing him food for the trip and he was outside the room Addi slept in, telling himself that he needed to knock and talk to her before he left. He finally quickly knocked, he heard Addi call, "Come in."

He opened the door and found her awake, with her back to him looking out the window. Without thinking he went up behind her and wrapped his arms around her and gave her a huge bear hug. He whispered in her ear, "It is going to be alright. Just you wait and see." He could feel her relaxing in his arms and he whispered in her ear again, "Although I wish I could stay with you."

She wiggled herself around until she was facing him and said, "I wish you could stay with me too."

He smiled sadly down at her and then lightly kissed her forehead, as he drew back he paused for a second and then gave her a light kiss on her lips. He quickly let her go and backed up. He bowed quickly and said, "I will see you in Foith, alright." Without waiting for her answer he walked out of the room, knowing his face was turning red.

He quickly got on the road and headed towards his destination. After riding for an hour he pulled out his summons stone and looked at it. It was getting very bright he knew that Robert was getting closer. He kept riding keeping an eye out for Robert.

Finally an hour later, Robert and ten men came out of the woods by him. He smiled at then and dismounted. When they were all in a tight circle he explained his plan to them and asked for their help.

Robert nodded his head and said, "Just tell us what to do."

"I want four of your men to accompany me, to discourage any attacks on me. One man is going to carry a message to the Mage Eric and explain what his part is. I want the rest of them and you Robert to shadow Addi and make sure Daire doesn't find her." Matt explained.

Robert nodded and divided his men, "I will see you when you get to Foith, then." He asked.

Matt nodded, and mounted his horse. His escort followed him, while the others melted back into the forest.

* * *

Author's note- I can't decide whether I should keep going on with the story in Matt's POV, or switch and backtrack and do Addi's POV. There are some things that have happened we need to see Addi's view point from but I want to continue on with the story. What do you want to read next? Addi's POV or Matt's?


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Addi didn't sleep well during the night. She finally gave up and got ready for the day. She was standing with her back to the door watching as the horizon turned red from the rising sun. She heard a knock on the door. "Come in." She called knowing who it would be. She heard the door open and close again, but was surprised when she was caught up in a large crushing hug.

"It is going to be alright. Just you wait and see." Matt whispered in her ear. She found herself relaxing in his hug, then he whispered again, "Although I wish I could stay with you."

She had to respond to that one, so she wiggled and turned in his arms so she was facing him and answered, "I wish you could stay with me too."

She saw his sad smile and felt a quick kiss on her forehead, she sighed to herself as he backed away, when he surprised her with a light kiss on her lips. She was still shocked as he let her go and said, "I will see you in Foith, alright." And left the room.

She stood there watching the door, wondering why she let him leave, she should have grabbed his arm and refused to let go, or something like that. She dropped her shoulders and sighed. She knew she loved that man who just walked out the door and she knew from their interesting question answering session a few days ago that he felt the same way, or at least she hoped that is what his answer meant.

She didn't know how long she had stood there, before Ardell came bustling into the room and told her that she needed to get back into the hidey hole. Ardell quickly explained that some of Daire's troops were heading up the road and Andon thought that they might stop and search the place. Addi quickly lifted the floorboards and crawled into the space while Ardell replaced them. For the second time Addi found herself in the cramped dark hole. It was long enough to almost stretch out her legs and wide enough for a little elbow room. The floorboards where tight enough overhead that they only let in a glimmer of light. She leaned against the dirt wall and closed her eyes. She kept going over the events of the morning, and that kiss. After going through it several times, she opened her eyes and tried to think of something else. She wondered what was going on upstairs, she couldn't hear anything. She tried to imagine what Ardell and Andon could possibly be doing.

She closed her eyes again, and started thinking about what had happened over the last week. She had tried to run away from Matt, ran into Robert, had Matt catch up to her, and now this. She relived the night of the dance.

_The music had started and Addi couldn't keep from tapping the beat with her fingers as she watched Matt avoid her eye. She knew he didn't like dancing and was trying to get out having to dance with her. She smiled at this, and knew she was just going to have to make him jealous. She found a young man with dark hair and made eye contact with him and smiled as brilliantly as she could at him._

_The young man looked at her and then at Matt, trying to decide if it was safe to approach. She looked away knowing Matt was looking at her. When she looked back the young man was walking towards her. He asked, " "Does the pretty lady have a name?"_

_Addi scoffed, "Flattery won't get you anywhere. Do you want something?" _

_The young man paused then responded, "Your name and a dance." _

_She then said innocently, "You haven't told me your name yet. I can't dance with someone I don't know."_

"_My name is Oliver. Can I have yours now?" He said patiently. _

"_Lynn." She finally answered, she turned and touched Matt's shoulder lightly, she gave him a hint of a smile and said, "I am going to dance with Oliver." She waited for his blank nod before giving her hand to Oliver. _

_Oliver was a pretty good dancer for the most part, the problem Addi found herself looking over at Matt who was just sitting at the table trying to act like he didn't care. She watched as he got up and walked over to a table of merchants and talked with them. Her dancing companion kept trying to pull her attention back to him, but it kept wandering over to Matt. I wonder what they are talking about, she was curious. It seemed her plan to make him jealous backfired and had just made Oliver very frustrated. When the dance ended, he murmured to her, "Go and dance with the one you really want to dance with." She looked at him surprised and muttered her apologies. He waved them off and walked away._

_She walked over to where he was sitting, he turned around so he was facing her. She smiled at him and held out her hand saying, "Can I have the honor of the next dance?"_

_She watched him roll his eyes and say, "You know I don't like dancing."_

_She knew she was smiling broadly and that she was going to have to force him, so she whispered in his ear, "All these fine gentlemen are looking at you and wondering why you do not dance with your fair traveling companion."_

_She watched him sigh and knew she had won. He stood up and accepted her hand. She followed him out to the dance floor. She hid a smile as Matt put his hand on her waist and drew her in for the dance. _

Addi smiled in her little dark hole as she remembered that dance. She didn't really remember what they talked about but she did remember how happy she was that he was there dancing with her.

She was jostled out of her memories by a large stomp from above her. She held her breathe as she looked up, she of course couldn't see anything but she listened as she could hear more footprints walk around the floor. She finally took a breath as she could hear furniture being moved. She wished that she knew what was going on up there. She wringed her hands and forced herself to breathe slowly. The sounds faded and then everything was quiet again. She leaned against the dirt wall again and closed her eyes. She was very tense, she didn't know if Daire was up there or if there was anybody up there at all.

After a while she began to relax and she fell asleep.

She was woken up by a light hitting her eyes. She slowly opened them trying to get them used to the light. When they finally came into focus she saw Nee standing and waiting for her. Addi climbed out and they replaced the floorboards.

"What happened? How long have I been down there?" Addi asked as she tried to stretch out her cramped muscles.

"One of Daire's patrols came through and raided the place. They didn't tear things up like I thought they would have. Maybe the Prince's threat is holding some sway. They searched for several hours before they finally left. We also left you down there for another couple of hours just in case they came back. It is now just after lunch." Nee apologized.

Addi smiled and nodded her head, "Does that mean I missed lunch?" She teased.

Nee smiled back at her and lead her to the kitchen to get some lunch.

* * *

Two days later, very early in the morning, they were ready to head to town. Addi was glad that they were finally moving. She had spent the last few days being bored out of her mind. She couldn't leave the house and had to stay away from windows in case anybody was watching, so mostly she sat in the room with the secret room, and tried to find something to keep herself occupied.

She was put into a secret compartment that Andon had built into the wagon, she had to be curled up on her side in order to fit. Andon had apologized about not being able to make it larger, he was worried that somebody would notice it if it was larger.

An hour into the ride, Addi was already feeling cramped, and there was about another two hours left. She tried to relax and focus on the conversation that Andon and Ardell were having on top of the wagon. They kept talking about the nice weather, and how well they thought that they would do at the market this week. She heard a horse come up to the wagon and heard a familiar voice ask. "Where are you folks headed?"

She scowled, she knew Matt had contacted Robert but she had hoped that she wouldn't see him. Although a small voice in the back of her head corrected, she really couldn't see him at the moment.

"We're headed to Foith, to the marketplace." She heard Andon reply.

"I am headed there to. Do you mind if I ride with you along the way? It will give me someone to talk to." Robert asked pleasantly.

"What is your name, young man?" Ardell asked.

"Robert, but please call me Rob. How about yours?"

"I am Ardell and this is my husband Andon. What brings you to Foith?" Ardell replied.

"I am on my way to meet my girl, Melissa. She has been waiting for me to return from Browning." Robert said.

At this point of time Addi tried to tune them out and see if she could fall asleep, sleep was the only way she thought that time could possibly go any faster. The rhythm of the horses' hooves finally lulled her to sleep. She was woken up by the wagon lurching to a stop. She tried to listen for any conversation she could to see if she could figure out where they were. She heard muffled voices and then finally Andon big voice say, "We are here, Ardell, please and go make sure our stand is ready and I will take care of the horses."

Addi listened carefully trying to hear any more information, but she didn't hear anything more. She felt the wagon being unloaded after a while and she waited. Last night Andon had told her about how she would have to stay hiding until they were able to find Eric and talk to him about how they would get her to his house without anybody knowing. She tried to stretch and move to another position but didn't get very far in her cramped quarters.

She didn't know how much time had passed but she was now very bored, she kept searching her mind for something to think about or maybe something to do, but kept coming up with nothing. It also didn't help that she was trying not to think about and worry about what Matt was doing. If he had reached and talked with Daire's parents yet, whenever she found herself thinking about him she would start counting and see how long she could go until she messed up.

She was in one of these counting ventures when she heard somebody get on the wagon and start to open the door to her little prison. Andon offered her a hand to help you out. She took it and climbed out, she had just finished standing when her cramped muscles refused to work and dropped her on the ground. She was trying to stand back up through the pain her muscles were giving her when she felt herself being scooped up into someone's arms. Addi looked over, alarmed and saw Robert was the one carrying her. "Put me down." She hissed at him.

Robert didn't even look at her as he continued to walk.

She tried again, "Put me down, Robert."

He again didn't look at her but answered, "No, we need to get you into the carriage as soon as possible. Ah, there it is." She was then dumped into a carriage that was waiting with its door open. The door was then shut behind her. Add eased herself into a sitting position and looked around the inside of the carriage. She saw a very pregnant young lady looking at her trying not to laugh.

Addi scowled at her and snapped, "You wouldn't look much better if you had my traveling accommodations."

The young lady started laughing, "I imagine I wouldn't, but I couldn't help myself. I am Gena, Eric's wife. He sent me to come pick you up."

Addi softened the expression on her face, "Sorry, I just have had a rough couple of days."

"I would say it has been a rough couple of weeks, if I heard the story correctly." Gena replied.

Addi chuckled at that remark, "Maybe, but I can't complain too much, I could be worse off. I guess you already know me, but just to be proper, I am Addi."

"It is nice to finally meet you. I have heard a lot of things about you." Gena said. "We are about to our house when we stop you need to quickly get out and run inside. Eric is waiting for you, I'll be in shortly."

Addi looked at her confused, "Can't I help you get into the house?"

"No, we need you out of sight as soon as possible. I'll be fine, Henry, the driver, will help me." Gena said as the carriage stopped, "Go quickly now."

Addi looked once more at Gena and then as quickly as she could, climbed out of the carriage and limped over into the house. A man with blonde hair helped her into another room and set her onto the couch. He then disappeared back into the main room, a few moments he and Gena came into the room.

Addi looked up at them and smiled uncomfortably, she didn't quite know what to do, she was so tired of getting moved around and of staying hidden. She finally said, "I take it you're Eric."

He smiled at her and nodded his head, "I was given the message that I need to keep you hidden until Matt comes and picks you up. Do you have any idea how long that will be?"

Addi shook her head as she gingerly stood up and began to slowly walk around the room trying to get her legs to work properly. "You know just about as much as I do. When he left me all he said is that he would meet me here in Foith."

"You must be tired, I made up a bed on the other side of this room for you if you would like to lie down." Gena said.

Addi looked at her and muttered, "No, I am actually tired of lying down, I would like to just walk around." She continued to walk around finally paying attention to what was around her. She saw a long work table and cabinets full of herbs and books. She asked Eric, "Is this your workroom?"

"It is. Last year I kept having some kids break in here and try to steal spells that I was working on, so I built up a good barrier around this room. It is the safest place for you to stay." Eric answered.

Addi looked around more and commented, "You have it set up similarly to the way Matt does."

"You have been in Matt's workroom, I take it then." Eric said while his wife sat down on the couch.

Addi laughed, "You haven't heard the way this story started, then." She saw the question on his face and answered, "Yes, since you are being nice and hiding me, I'll tell you the whole story."

* * *

This time the wait was much more enjoyable. Even though Addi was stuck inside the same room for four days, at least she could help out Eric and his wife. Gena couldn't stay on her feet for very long, so Addi took it upon herself to be her legs, getting this ingredient or that one as they did their experiments or put together spells for their customers in the town.

On the fourth day, Addi was doing exactly that, helping them out when they heard the bell on the door in the main room ring. Addi quickly darted behind the cabinet to hide while Eric helped whoever came in. She heard Eric say, "It is about time you arrived here, Matt."

Addi didn't wait for anything else to be said before she ran out of her hiding spot and ran to the man standing just inside the doorway and gave him a big hug.

* * *

Author's note- wow, for some reason I had a hard time getting started with this chapter, and as you noticed I did continue on with the story, just told it from Addi's point of view. I hoped you liked it and will review.

Thanks to all those who reviewed the last chapter. I loved reading them.


	15. Chapter 15

They finally fixed the site!!! I have been trying for almost three days to post this!! but now it is posted and you can enjoy.....enjoy.

Chapter 15

Matt was tired, he had traveled over six days since he had last seen Addi. He had spent three days riding to see The Duke and the Duchess about Daire. Then turned around and headed back to the town Foith. He and his companions were just about to enter Foith. He was excited to see Addi again. She should have been here for the last three or four days, if he did his calculations correctly. They slowed down as they reached main street and slowly brought the horses through the main part of town, when they finally reached Eric's house Matt barely paid heed to his horse, tying it briefly outside, before knocking on the door.

He waited for Eric to open it, he stepped inside and looked around while Eric smiled at him and commented, "It is about time you got here, Matt."

Matt looked at his friend and was just about to answer when he saw a figure dart out of the workroom and run into him giving him a big hug. He looked down at the straggly blonde hair and wrapped his arms around her. He held her like this for several long moments before he noticed that both Eric and his wife were staring at them. He felt his face flush a bit as he loosed his hold on her and pulled her away from him and asked, "I take it that you are doing well."

She smiled up at him and answered, "Eric and Gena have been keeping very good care of me. I have been helping them."

Matt looked up at Eric and expressed his thanks to him. By this time his four companions had taken care of the horses and were entering the house. Matt and Eric looked over at them and then Eric suggested that they take their discussions into the workroom where they would be free to talk.

As they walked into the workroom, Matt was wondering why he was being so hypersensitive to Addi, he could feel her walking next to him, he noticed every turn of her head. He didn't know why it was now that he was noticing all these things, especially when he needed to be thinking about how they were going to get to Lord Artt's castle, a two day ride away from Foith. Everyone sat around the worktable and Addi turned to him and asked, "So how did your meeting with The Duke and Duchess go?"

"Everything is going according to plan. They have heard new accounts of what Daire has been doing trying to find you and they are not very happy with him. They heard our side of the story and have agreed to my plan. Although they will not make an official announcement until they can speak to him and tell him face to face. Which might take a while, I hear that he is ignoring any summons from his parents at the moment. They have sent a letter to your father with their intentions saying that marriage is no longer possible in-between you two. So all we have to do is get to your father and confirm the news." Matt explained to her.

She smiled at him and then asked the question. "How are we going to get to my father? It is a two day ride from here, what is your plan?"

Eric then spoke up, "I think I may have a plan. I frequently take trips and am gone for days. I think I need to plan a trip,"

"How will that help us?" Matt interrupted.

Gena then spoke, "I always accompany him on his trips, and since I am expecting so soon," She said making a gesture to her swollen stomach. "I will need to ride in our carriage, and Addi can ride with me and be my aide, making sure that I am doing alright."

Matt nodded and remarked, "That should work. It will keep her out of sight and also give you any aid that you may need for the journey. Are you sure that you are up for it though?" He asked looking at Eric and Gena.

They both smiled while Eric responded, "Yes, I want to help my old friend out, I also want to get rid of that pest, Daire."

Matt gratefully smiled and thanked them for their help. He spent the rest of the evening preparing with Eric, while Addi was packing and helping Gena get ready for the trip.

* * *

The next day was spent traveling as fast as the carriage would let them. Gena and Addi were in the carriage while Matt and the others rode on horses. Matt was glad of their pace, but he went through the day only catching glimpses of Addi as they traveled, when they finally reached the town Boyden where they were stopping for the night. As she was supposed to be acting like an aid to Gena they had no chance during the day to talk. They ate a quick dinner in the common room that connected their rooms together. The four guards that were accompanying him retired to their rooms' right after dinner. Eric took his wife for a slow walk around the inn to stretch her legs. Leaving Matt finally alone with Addi. He looked at her from across the table and smiled as she leaned back sipping on her hot tea.

"So, I haven't heard what happened to you after we parted." Matt asked.

She shrugged and answered, "I spent a lot of time stuck in rooms staying out of sight, nothing very interesting. At least you were moving."

Matt laughed, "Riding all day in a saddle is not what I would call fun." He grew serious as he leaned forward, "Addi, I need to ask you something before we reach your father tomorrow. Even if he goes with the fact of Daire no longer being a Duke, I want to ask him for your hand in marriage. Would you be alright with that?"

His eyes searched her face as he asked that question. She didn't look away as she bit her lower lip as if she was debuting her answer. She then stood up and walked over and on the chair besides him. She didn't say anything as she leaned forward and kissed him. It wasn't a light timid kiss that he had planted on her a few days before, there was passion in it. When she finally pulled back and whispered, "Does that answer your question?"

He smiled and while putting his hand on her face said, "I don't know, I think I am going to need to hear it again." And leaned forward, connecting their lips again. This time they were separated by the sound of the knob on the door turning. Matt cursed under his breath as Eric and Gena came back into the room, he had been hoping for a little more time alone before they had come back. He watched as Addi went into her room with Gena and reluctantly gave up and went to bed.

* * *

The next afternoon Matt found himself in front of the castle where Addi grew up. He gave his elbow to Addi as they walked in through the front doors with Eric and Gena behind them. The first person that they saw was Tavis. He came running through the room and picked up Addi and hugged her. When he finally put her down, Tavis turned to Matt and asked, "You finally figured out where she was hiding. It took you long enough."

Matt shrugged, "She hides very well, I doubt you could have done better."

Tavis laughed, "I, at least knew that she was your servant, Lynn."

"Only because a certain merchant told you." Matt shot back.

Addi then laughed, "You two need to cut that out or I'll just have to hide again and prove you both wrong."

Matt gave her a calculating glance and then as he walked towards her commented, "I believe that I have a promise from a certain lady saying that she wouldn't run away from me again."

She gave him a cheeky smile and said, "I am not running away, I am merely hiding. It is not the same thing."

"Then I am just going to have to keep an eye on you, my dear." He said as he slung an arm over her shoulder and motioned for Tavis to lead the way.

They followed Tavis as he filled them in on the news that they had received a very interesting letter from Daire's parents saying that he was no longer inheriting. They didn't like how he treated the people he was suppose to protect. He was telling Addi how distraught their father was over the news. He didn't want to believe it, and that he had locked himself in his study and was refusing to come out. Tavis led then by a group of rooms that he directed Eric and Gena into, he then took Matt and Addi to his father's study.

"Father," Tavis called as he knocked on the door, "I have some visitors that would like to see you."

"I told you that I do not wish to see anybody today, please tell them to go away." A voice from beyond the door came out.

"I believe you want to see these visitors, Father. They are very important." Tavis tried again.

"Fine, let them in." Came the voice again.

Tavis gave them a good luck shrug and opened the door, Matt took Addi's hand and entered into the room behind Tavis. He saw Lord Artt sitting behind his desk with his head in his hands. He lightly coughed into his hand causing Artt to look up suddenly. Artt's face went from blank to surprise as he took in who his guests were.

"My Prince, I am very sorry that I didn't greet you as you came in. I didn't realize that you were coming." Artt stumbled as he got up to greet them. He then looked over at Addi and said, "My daughter, you have come back but where is your beautiful Auburn hair?"

Addi laughed, "I had to be a blonde for a while, I am sorry, Father. I know that you love the color of my hair since it is the same color that Mother's was."

"I hope you will change it back soon." He started and then realized fully who was in front of him. "Addi, you're here! I have some horrible news for you. Duke Daire has been stripped of his title. He can no longer marry you."

"Father, you know that I didn't want to marry him in the first place so I don't take it as horrible news." Addi responded.

"I know, but who will I get to marry you now? I want to make sure that you are well taken after, especially since I can't look after you forever." He admitted.

Matt held in his laughter as he responded to that, "I need to talk to you about that. I would like to ask you for your daughter's hand in marriage."

Artt looked at him dumbfounded for several long moments before repeating, "You, the Prince, would like to marry my daughter?"

Matt replied as soothingly as he could, "Yes, I would."

Artt blinked his eyes several times before responding, "What does Addi say about it?"

"I would like you to agree to the request, Father." Addi answered. Matt gave her hand a light squeeze when he heard that. She sent him a small smile as she focused her attention on her father.

Artt looked back and forth from Addi to him and finally noticed their linked hands, "If my daughter agrees to it, I would be honored to give you her hand in marriage."

Matt smiled and thanked him, before hugging Addi, knowing that everything was finally going their way.

* * *

Author's note- I had a bit of writer's block with this chapter, but hopefully it will go away now that I have written it. If any of you are wondering what Daire is doing, just wait until the next chapter we will definitely bring him back because they have not completely solved the problem of our villain Daire. Hehehe……… please review.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

After staying a few days in the place she grew up, Addi had come to a conclusion that this wasn't really home anymore. She wandered around knowing she would always love this place but she knew her life was now somewhere else, it was with Matt. It was helping him out with his work, whether it is magical or kingdom related, it was taking long walks with me just talking, it was holding hands with him underneath the table as they waited for their food at the dinner table. Addi stood in her room looking around at all the furniture she had grown up with and knew she was ready to leave it behind.

She had just come in from a horse ride that she had taken with Tavis and Matt. They were making plans on leaving for the capital tomorrow and she needed to decide what she was going to have sent to her there. She wasn't looking forward of going through everything, she first needed to have something to drink, then she would change from her riding outfit and then she would start on that task.

She looked over to her table where the maid usually had some tea waiting and was surprised to see a wine bottle and a glass of wine already poured. Mary knew that she only drank wine at dinner, so why would she put some out. Addi made a face and turned around to go out the door and find Mary and ask her to bring up some tea.

She had just gotten to the door when she heard someone come up behind her and grab her wrist. It was wrenched behind her back and a hand was clapped on her mouth before she could gasp a breath to scream. Her and her assailant turned around and she found herself looking at Daire. She squirmed against the man holding her and found that she couldn't move very much.

Over the top of the hand on her mouth, she sent a glare at Daire, who only laughed, "I finally have found you, Adilyn. It took some doing to get into your room but I found a way and we are going to be leaving that way. How do you feel about that?"

She tried to answer but was stopped by the hand over her mouth. Daire nodded to the man behind her and he dropped his hand away from her.

"You're an idiot, Daire. You are only making enemies by doing what you are doing." She spat.

Daire smiled, "I may be making enemies right now, but as soon as you are mine, you can just convince them that I am not that bad."

Addi just looked at him in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Daire shrugged, "I'll explain later for you if you haven't figured it out by then, but right now we need to get going."

"I am not going anywhere." Addi proclaimed, watching as Daire went over and picked up the wine filled wine glass.

"I thought you would say that, all you need to do right now is take a sip of this." He motioned to the glass.

Addi shook her head and tried to back up, only to remember about the man behind her who was now tying her hands behind her back. Daire came up to her and said again, "You need to take a drink."

She closed her mouth and shook her head. Daire shrugged his shoulders and motioned at the man who was holding her. His hands went up to her mouth and forced it open, while Daire sloppily poured the drink into her mouth. It ran down her chin as she tried to spit it out, but her mouth was now forced closed. She stood there with her mouth being held shut, glaring at Daire. She didn't have to swallow, and he couldn't make her. He smiled again and brought up his hands, putting one on her mouth and the other closing her nose. He then whispered in her ear, "You are either going to swallow it or pass out and then unconsciously swallow it. Your choice."

Her answer was to again try and struggle against her captures; her lungs were already beginning to burn from lack of air. He had her and she knew it but she didn't want to give up. Her attempts of struggle began to get weaker and weaker as all she could think about was getting some air. She swallowed the liquid in her mouth, hating the satisfied look on Daire's face and he brought his hands away from her face. She gulped air as she could feel the drug in the wine working. The edges of her vision began to darken as she felt herself slip unconscious.

* * *

As Addi began to wake up, she registered her headache before she even opened her eyes. She laid there not wanting to completely wake up and then have to face what was going on. She could feel that she was on a soft bed and she knew her hands were no longer tied. She then opened her eyes and found herself in a very bare room, it only had a bed, a chest of drawers, a small table and two chairs. She could see two doors, one was probably the way out and the other to the bathroom. She saw there were small windows, too high on the wall for her to be able to look out of. Addi slowly sat up and gave the room another look over. She couldn't see any way out of the room besides out the door. She stood up and walked over to the two doors, the first she opened to reveal a very plain bathroom, and second was locked. She was trying to see if she could somehow reach the windows when she heard the lock in the door turn. She turned to the door, trying not to show any fear on her face.

Daire walked in through the door with a covered tray, he walked over to the table and put the tray down before turning to her and remarking, "You finally woke up, that is good. I have some food here for you, you must be hungry."

Addi didn't say anything just watched him as he uncovered the tray and sat down on one of the chairs. He looked over at her and cocked his head, "Are you going to come and get something to eat or just stand there and stare at me?"

She finally found her voice, "Where am I?"

"Somewhere where no one will find you. That should be a comfort to you." He said smoothly.

She scowled, "Why would that be a comfort to me? I want you to let me go."

"It is a comfort to you because now you know that you are safe here with me and no one will interrupt us." He replied.

"Are you stupid? I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE WITH YOU! I DON'T WANT TO BE ANYWHERE WITH YOU." She spat out.

"You don't really feel like that, Adilyn. This is just the stress talking. You need to calm down and eat something." He motioned again at the food on the table.

She shook her head and asked, "Why do you keep coming after me, Daire? You could have easily given up."

He looked over at her and answered, "You have a power." He stopped her when she tried to deny that, "Everyone loves you, and you can make others loved as well. Look at what has happened to that idiot prince. You have been with him for what, four months, and he went from being hated by people to where he is beginning to be looked on with respect. That was your power. Having you by my side will make me very popular."

She shook her head, "Matt did that all by himself, and I can't make you popular, even if I did have this power that you say I do. You have hurt too many people, ignored too many things to be valued by people. I can't fix that."

He stood up staring at her with an intensity that scared her, saying, "You cannot hold back on me. I will have your power, because no one denies me anything. Not you, not my parents, and not that stupid prince." He started stomping towards her, she shrank away from him but soon hit the wall and then the corner and had nowhere to go. He put both hands on her shoulders and pushed her against the wall. "Don't you understand? You are not going to deny me what I deserve and I deserve to be powerful and in charge."

She shook her head and said, "I can't give you that power, and I don't know why you think I can."

He just smiled at her, "Because you are Lady Adilyn that is why you will help me." When he stopped Addi looked into his eyes and released that he was no longer thinking clearly, his mind had finally left him. She slowly shook her head in response to his comment, "I can't." she simply said.

He hit the wall besides her head, scaring her, and answered, "I believe you don't have a choice." He then bent his head down and kissed her. Addi tried to squirm away from him but the more she moved the more he pushed her back into the wall. She didn't know what to do about this crushing force that was giving her such a rough kiss. But when he tried to deepen it she decided to take action.

"You bit me!" Daire yelled as he backed away, she just glared at him and he answered with a slap to her face. She watched him through her hands as he wiped blood from his lip, he looked at her again and then stomped out the door. She could hear the lock being put into place as slowly slid down to the ground. The tears began to trickle down her face as she wondered how she was going to get herself out of this situation. She thought about Matt and how he would come for her, she just hoped that he got there soon and that she could hold on for that long.

* * *

Author's note- how's that for a twist in the story? I hoped you liked reading and will review.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Addi didn't know for how long she dazed out letting her situation overwhelm her, she finally ran out of tears and began to look around the room again. If Matt were here she would have confided in him that Daire scared her, he scared her so badly that she didn't think she could be in the same room as him. Especially after what he just did, that is why she kept running whenever he found her. She stood up slowly and went and picked up one of the chairs and pulled it over to the wall in front of one of the windows.

Even standing on the chair she was still underneath the window by a couple of feet. She tried to jump and missed the window ledge by inches and fell to the chair, barely staying on. She took a deep breath and prepared herself for another jump. This time her fingers caught the edge and she kept hold on for several moments while she tried to lift herself up to see out the window. She caught just a sight of green before she lost hold and crashed down into the chair and then to the floor. She laid there for a moment waiting for the sharp pain in her back to go away. After a few long moments she could finally think about what she saw, from the quick glimpse she thought that she was on the second floor or higher. And if she was right she couldn't go out the window. She got up slowly and limped over to the bed and sat on it, trying to think of another way out.

* * *

Matt's POV

After enjoying a horse back ride with Addi and her brother, Matt was now in the library talking to Tavis about the upcoming plans to get Addi back to his castle. Nobody had heard anything from Daire since his parents had sent out a request he return home so they were pretty sure that he was out of the picture. Matt leaned back in his chair and wondered out loud, "I wonder how Addi is doing with her cleaning?"

Tavis looked at him and smiled, "I don't know but I am not about to go and find out. She probably isn't in a very happy mood after doing it for most of the afternoon."

Matt made a face and shook his head, "I think I am going to go and find out. Maybe I'll convince her to come out and have tea with us." He stood up and looked questionably at Tavis. Tavis smiled and shook his head. Matt shrugged and turned to the door. He walked down the hall and came upon Addi's room. He knocked on the door and waited for her response. It didn't come, he knocked again. When there was no response he opened the door slightly, and looked inside. "Addi?" He called, "Addi? Are you in here?" He went farther into the room and still didn't see anybody, he was wondering where she could be. "Addi? Are you back there?" He called as he started to walk into the back room. He stopped when he saw someone in the corner. "Addi? Is that you?"

Matt approached them and found Addi's maid tied up in the corner. He rushed over to her and asked, "What happened?" and untied her.

"He took her." She gasped.

"What?"

"Daire came with a bunch of men, tied me up and surprised her. I couldn't do anything about it. I am sorry." She said in a rush.

Matt stared at her for a second before asking, "When did they take her?"

"It was just shortly after she came back from her ride." Mary answered.

Matt tried to grasp the situation as his mind tried to race off in many directions. He stared at the maid for a long moment before nodding his thanks and running out the door to the library. He ran through the door and practically ran Tavis over, while saying. "He's got her. He's got her. I need you to show me your Mage workroom. "

Tavis steady himself and asked, "Who's her? And who's got her?" Matt looked straight into Tavis's eyes and saw the recognition in his eyes, "No, you can't mean Daire has Addi. How?"

Matt shook his head, "I am not sure how he got into the castle but I know that he has her. I need the Mages workroom. Can you show me it please?"

Tavis nodded and walked quickly out the door, Matt followed him as he went down the halls and finally into a long room. Matt barely heard Tavis explain that he was going to start organizing some search parties before he went over to the cabinet and started pulling out the supplies he would need to track Addi. Within minutes he had his spell constructed and pulled that familiar necklace from his neck, he looked at it remembering how he kept meaning to give it back but he just couldn't find the right time. He activated the spell and was surprised when there was just a bright blue flash of light before the spell disintegrated.

He stood there completely dumbfounded, why didn't it work? He knew it wasn't the ingredients because last time they were wrong the spell didn't do anything. So why did it react this way? Daire must have done something to block the spell. How could he counteract it? He needed help. Eric was still at the castle. They were waiting for the baby to be born before they attempted the ride back, he looked up and saw a servant at the door and gave him a message to find the mage Eric and bring him there at once. He pulled out a yellow stone from him belt and stood there rubbing it, wondering if he should call Twymn. He then activated the stone, knowing that having Twymn there would help a lot. He just wondered how fast Twymn could get there.

Eric came walking through the door, just a few moments later, he was red in the face from running there. "What happened? The boy who got me said it was urgent."

Matt looked at his old friend and answered, "Daire has Addi and my locator spell won't work. I need your help to get it to work."

Eric's face went white when he heard that, "How did Daire get Addi?"

"I don't know, I am just concerned about getting her back, right now." Matt replied.

Eric came over and stood by him and asked, "So first you need to explain this locator spell to me. I have not seen it before."

Matt nodded and began the process of how they had made it and what it was used for.

Eric then asked, "Can we try it on somebody else and see if it works then?"

Matt nodded and asked for something of his that he could do the spell on, he took the ring and did the spell again. This time having it work perfectly. He looked over at Eric who then asked, "Can I see what happens when you try and find Addi?"

Matt nodded and did the spell again, and was frustrated to see that again there was a bright blue light and the spell then disintegrated. He took a slow breath and let it out and turned to Eric. "What do we do? The spell is being blocked somehow. Should I spend time trying to get it to work or should I abandon it and go search the old fashion way?"

Eric thought for a long moment before answering, "Let's see if we can get it to work. Tavis is organizing search parties. We will let him continue doing that, while we try and get this to work. Splitting our resources is most likely our best bet."

Matt nodded and started pacing, "We have to figure out what they are using to block the locator spell before we can figure out how to get past it. So what things could block this spell?"

* * *

After five long hours of thinking and trying out different ideas they were no closer to breaking the spell. Matt decided to take a break and go find Tavis and see how his search parties were going. He found Tavis down in the courtyard, standing over a map.

"How goes it?" he asked.

Tavis looked up and shook his head. "I have found some witnesses that say they saw a bunch of men leaving town around noon. And got a general direction from that. But nobody else saw them. I don't know where they went. So I have search parties searching the woods. They will use a summonstone if they find anything but it seems like they just disappeared. How is your spell going? I thought that you would have had it working and be on her tail by now."

Matt shook his head in disgust, "Daire has found some way to block the spell. Eric and I have been trying to get past that block all night, and we still aren't any closer. I thought I would take a quick break and see how you were doing, before I go back and work on it."

Tavis looked at him and replied, "I hope you get it to work fast because I don't think we are going to find him with search parties."

Matt nodded and went back up to the workroom and started working again.

* * *

Matt was woken up by the early sun's rays hitting his eyes. He flinched when he realized that he had fallen asleep on the worktable. He slowly straighten himself out, wincing when he back protested the movement. He looked around and found Eric sleeping on the couch. He wondered when he fell asleep. He knew it was long past the midnight hour. He groggily turned back to the work that they had been doing and was frustrated all over again. They couldn't get anything to work. Nothing they tried even gave the possibility of working, he wasn't quite sure what to try anymore. He knew he needed to take a real break and clear his head but he knew Addi was waiting for him, so he continued on.

Around lunch time Eric and Matt were stopped by people coming through the door. Matt turned around and was surprised to see Twymn and Justin walking in. He went up to them and asked, "How did you get there so fast?"

"We were already on our way here. Your father asked to come with an escort and help you come back home. When you activated the summonstone we left the escort and traveled as fast as we could here. Is it true that Daire has Addi?" Twymn replied.

Matt nodded, "Maybe you can figure out how to unblock the spell so we can find her."

* * *

Author's note- Sorry for not updating sooner. Hope you like this chapter. Please review.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Justin hit the table in frustration, "What are we missing? We need to get this spell to work. Addi has already been missing for over a day."

Matt sunk down into a chair and answered, "I don't know. Daire couldn't possibly have better mages than us four here, so how in the world is he blocking this spell?"

"Maybe it isn't a factor of better mages, maybe he just has more than us. Could he possibly have multiple mages working a normal blocking spell, and we haven't broken through because we are only using one of us at a time." Twymn thought out loud.

"It is worth a try, we have tried everything else." Eric said wearily.

"Let's try. If this doesn't work, we need to stop for some dinner, I believe that the sun went down hours ago." Justin suggested.

"Alright," Matt said as he started to measure out the ingredients again. "I have to say that I can now do this spell in my sleep, I have done it so much."

This time they all performed the spell, Matt expected the same bright blue light he had come after all the other times they had done it, but was surprised when he saw a yellow light pulse and point to the east. He stood blankly looking at the pulsing light for a few long moments, he was knocked out of his thoughts by Eric shaking his shoulder. "What are you waiting for, Matt? Let's get going."

Matt looked over at his friend and nodded, and followed him out the door.

* * *

Addi got up and started pacing, she didn't know how she was going to get out of this room. The windows were out because she was too high from the ground and the only other opening was the door leading who knows where. She stopped suddenly and looked under the bed, there was enough room underneath it for her to fit. She crawled under there and began to wait.

After she had waited there long enough to have several little cap naps she heard the click of the key turning the door. She watched the door open from her hiding spot. She saw Daire walk in and looked around the room, he looked at the chair still underneath the window and narrowed his eyes. He then went into the bathroom, the guard at the door went along with him. She waited for just a moment and then quickly crawled out from under the bed and made a mad dash for the door. She made it out, closed the door and locked it. She looked around and saw just a staircase heading down. Having nowhere else to go she started to run down the stairs. Around and around she went as she went down the stairs, she finally made it to the bottom and looked around. She saw the big main door guarded by two men, she looked around and saw the entrance into what she hoped was the kitchen. She walked carefully to the kitchen hoping the men at the door would think she was a servant. When she finally made it to the kitchen she walked out the door and discovered that it led to the stable. She heard Daire's shouting echoing through the halls as he went through them.

Addi looked around the stable looking for a place to hide. She quickly climbed into the stable lofts and dove into the pile of hay and squirmed to the bottom. It seemed like hours before she heard men come into the stable.

"Search this place." She heard Daire shout, "She could not have gotten past the guards surrounding the tower so she has to be somewhere inside it. Find her."

She willed herself to stay as still as she could, even kept her breathing as slow and quiet as possible. She heard a man climbing up the ladder and she listened hard trying to figure out what he was doing. She heard the rustling of hay as they began to search it, she curled up into the smallest ball she could and hoped that they wouldn't go as deep as she was. The rustling finally stopped and she heard a deep voice say, "I don't think she is in here. Let's go look somewhere else." She heard the clopping of the ladder as they descended and left the stable. She let out the breath she was holding and tried to get herself to think about what she was going to do next.

She couldn't think of anything. She had been curled up in this stupid itchy hayloft for what seemed to be hours and she had no clue how to get herself out of this mess. She knew if she came out she would be caught within minutes now that her element of surprise was gone. The only plus was that she wasn't currently trapped in a room with Daire at the moment, but when he caught her again she knew he would make her pay. She was hoping that after not finding her, Daire would maybe start to think that she did get past the sentries and increase the range of his search giving her some leeway to get past them.

She was awakened by a group of men coming into the stable talking loudly.

"Scouts have seen a group camped just on the other side of the hill, Lord Daire thinks that it is The Prince and his companions looking for the girl. We need to ride up and see if they have her or not." A gravelly voice commanded.

A higher second voice complained, "I think that Lord Daire has bitten of more that he can chew with this. The Prince is going to be mad about this."

The first voice harshly said. "Hush your mouth, you don't want The Lord to hear you saying that or he will kill us on the spot."

She heard no other talking, just them getting their horses ready. She was filled with hope knowing that Matt may be just outside where she was, all she had to do was get to him and this nightmare would be over. Although how she was going to get out of here she still didn't know. She listened for a few minutes and slowly came out of her hiding spot. Before she went down the ladder she looked everywhere for any of the stable boys or anybody else. She climbed down the ladder and made it to the main entrance of the door and peeked outside, she could see that there were a lot of sentries patrolling the area, she couldn't get past them all, or at least on foot she couldn't. She turned around and picked the fastest horse and quickly put a saddle on it. She led it to the doorway and took a quick look around and mounted. She didn't know what direction that Matt was in so she guessed to the East and kicked the horse into action.

As the shouts to stop came to her ears she flattened herself on the horse and urged it to go faster. She saw herself passing the sentries in a blur and kept on riding. She wasn't even sure of her direction anymore all she was concerned about was getting away. She heard the sounds of a mounted pursuit behind her and started pushing the horse faster. But they were still gaining on her, she heard a high whistle and her horse slowed down and reared throwing her off. She was trying to catch her breath when she heard her pursuers come up and circle her. She stood wheezing, glaring at those on the horses.

"That was a pretty good try, My Lady." Daire's voice came from her right side.

She turned and breathlessly said, "I will never be yours."

Daire responded, "Everything that I have responds to me, you should know that. I even have my horses trained to respond to my whistles. You had no chance of getting away."

Addi just stood there looking for a way out. Daire dismounted and came up to her, "Remember you are mine and you're not leaving me."

Addi looked at him and slapped him, saying, "I will never be yours."

He grabbed her wrists and hissed, "You will pay for that." He motioned at something on his horse and one of his men jumped off his horse, grabbed it and handed it to him. Addi looked over at it and saw a length of rope. She started to pull against his grasp as he started to tie her hands together, but she was no match for his strength. As he finished the last knot he sneered at her and said, "As I said you aren't going anywhere." In a single movement he picked her up to put her on his horse, she started kicking and hitting him with her tied hands. She knew it would only delay him but she had to try something. As Daire struggled with putting her on his horse she heard another group of horses approaching, she felt Daire set her on the ground with his arm tightly around her waist. Addi hung her head in despair, thinking it was another group of Daire's men. She heard a voice call out, "Daire let her go. And I believe I might let you live."

She looked up surprised and saw Matt with Tavis and Justin besides him. She smiled and called, "Matt!" but before she could get anything else out she felt a cold edge of a knife against her throat.

"She is mine, and not even a prince will get her from me." She heard Daire's voice say.

She saw Matt dismount and hold up his hands in peace, "You don't want to hurt her, if you love her, you don't want to do her any harm."

Daire shouted, "Stay where you are!" And pressed the knife harder against her throat. "I will do it. If she can't be mine then she won't be anyone's."

Addi lifted her tied hands and tried pulling his hand and knife away from her throat. "Daire, please don't do this." She pleaded with him.

Matt backed up a few steps and said, "Daire, Calm down, let us talk about this. We can find another way."

Addi could feel the bite of the knife pressed on her throat. She looked at Matt and then over at Tavis and Justin who were watching Daire's men in case they made a move. She knew that this standstill wasn't going to end well as long as the knife was pressed against her throat. She felt Daire starting to back up pulling her with him, she resisted and then pushed back, knocking him off guard, and pulled his hand with the knife away from her throat. She was trying to release his grip around her waist when he had recovered his balance and angrily said, "You idiot girl." And brought the hilt of his knife down on her temple. The sight of Matt rushing to her quickly changed into darkness.

* * *

Author's note- I am so sorry I have been gone for such a long time. I for some reason couldn't get this chapter out. I would write it and then change it and then change it again and now I think I have the version I like I will finally post it. So again for such a slow update. I hope you will review.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The first thing Addi was aware of was the sound of distant voices, as if there was a bunch of people talking in the next room. Her body felt so heavy she didn't want to try and go see who they were. She just let herself drift back into the blackness.

When she started to wake up again things were less fuzzy and she could even start to make out some of their conversation, she heard Matt's name several times and when Addi would actually wake up. She forced her very heavy eyelids open and blinked several times as she tried to make the objects around her focus. She must have made some type of noise because someone came from the other room and was approaching her. She looked over and smiled as she saw her brother, Tavis come up to her and sat beside her on the bed.

"I see that you are finally awake." Tavis said softly.

"How long have I been unconscious?" She asked.

"Over a day. We were worried that he may have hit you too hard." Tavis answered.

"Where am I?" She asked.

"We are in an inn in the town Glas, we brought you here after you were knocked out by that idiot." Tavis said angrily.

"What happened after I was hit?" Addi asked her brother.

"Healer Cam!" Tavis turned his head and called into the next room, "She's awake." He turned back and smiled crookedly, "I am under strict orders from the healer not to tell you anything until they say you are ready." He stood up and let the healer by.

A little man came up and sat where Tavis had just sat. He put his hand on her forehead and she could feel his magic performing a check through her body. He smiled at her and said, "You are healing well, although you still need more rest. I am keeping you on bed rest for at least another day."

She sadly sighed, "I understand. Can I at least know what happened?"

He smiled at her and shook his head, "No, not right now. Drink this, get some more sleep and we will see when you wake up."

She took the cup he was handing to her and sniffed, grimacing she said, "Why don't Healer's potions ever taste good?"

Cam smiled, "It is how we get back at people's bad manners when we are trying to make them better."

She laughed, wincing at her pounding head. She raised the cup to her mouth and swallowed as much as she could without tasting it. Cam nodded at her and took the cup from her and walked into the next room. Tavis smiled at her and said, "Sleep well, Addi and get better." Before following Cam out the door.

Addi woke up several hours later with her stomach growling, she sat up in bed and looked around the room, she couldn't hear anybody in the next room like before and was wondering if she should try and get up. She heard something from the next room, "Hello, who is there?" She called.

Justin poked his head in, "I see you're awake. Are you hungry? The Healer said if you were to feed you."

She smiled up at him and nodded. He disappeared through the doorway and appeared moments later with a tray. He set it in front of her and she started to eat. In-between bites she asked, "Where's Matt? Can I know what is going on now? Or I am still to be kept in the dark?"

Justin shook his head, "No, we can tell at least a little bit, just so you won't ask us to death. After Daire hit you, Matt went after him. Daire's dead. After Matt brought you here, he left to accompany the body back to his parents. He told us to bring you to the castle when you are up to traveling, he will meet us there."

Addi looked at Justin, "Was Matt hurt?"

Justin shook his head, "No, he wasn't. Don't worry about him, just get better so we can travel to go meet him." Addi nodded and started eating again.

It took Healer Cam two days to finally declare her fit enough to travel. By that time, Addi was going stir crazy. She wanted to see Matt again, she wanted to see with her own eyes that he was all right and not just told he was. It was going to take three long days to reach the castle. At least they were now on their way and she would soon see Matt.

The whole trip she had trouble convincing herself that she didn't have to worry about Daire anymore, she didn't have to look over her shoulder and wonder if he was there, she still couldn't believe that what she had spent the last two years of her life running away from was no longer there. She could look in front of her and at her future. She also wondered what it was going to be like being married to Matt. She would be queen some day, Addi didn't know if she wanted all that responsibility, but since that came with Matt she was just going to have to learn to accept it.

They were finally approaching the castle, she couldn't wait until she saw Matt again. She had to force herself to sit still on her horse and ride slowly through the town and try to ignore all the curious faces lined by the side of the road looking up at her. They finally reached the stables and she dismounted and left everyone one behind as she began to race up to Matt's workroom. She soon discovered that no one was there, she thought for a few moments and then raced out of the room again, only this time up to his room, but again no one was there. Addi wasn't quite sure where to look, so she went back down to the workroom, she would just wait there for him and hope he appeared soon. He might be in conference with his father or at an important meeting.

She was deep in her thoughts as she opened the door only to run straight into the back of somebody. She quickly backed up and stammered her apologizes as they turned around. She smiled as she recognized Matt before she was caught up in a huge bear hug. She hugged him back glad that she could finally see and touch him. Addi heard him whisper in her ear, "I am so glad you are finally here."

She responded, "So am I. It is hard to believe we are back here in this room after all that has happened."

Matt finally pulled away and gently stroked her cheek with his hand, "I wanted to come and get you, but Father insisted that I needed to take care of a few things here."

Addi leaned into his hand and smiled up at him, "I am here now without anything to run away from either, so you're stuck with me."

Matt's response was to lean over and to kiss her. She found herself clinging to him and his touch as if her life depended upon it. When they finally broke away she was breathing very deeply. She allowed herself to be led over to the couch and sat down with Matt's arm around her shoulders.

Matt leaned in and asked, "How much have you been told what happened?"

Addi shrugged, "Not much, they told me that was for you to tell. Which I have to say was very aggravating."

Matt grew sad, "I had to kill him, Daire would have always been a danger to you as long as he lived. Even though I hate him for what he did to you and there was no other way, I still feel bad that I did it. His parents didn't even blame me for his death even though it was my sword that killed him."

Addi stopped him by bringing up his chin, "Don't blame yourself for what happened. Daire didn't give you a choice, he would have killed me. I am sure of it. You are my hero and the love of my life." She finished with a quick kiss, which he turned into a much longer one.

When they finally broke away, Matt quickly stood up and helped her up, "I almost forgot, my mother has requested that you come see her, so you can start the wedding preparations. Mother is very excited, I wish you good luck."

Addi made a face as she allowed herself to be escorted out the doorway, "I am going to need all the luck I can get."

Matt smiled and encouraged, "Compared to what you have just been through, it should be a breeze."

Addi rolled her eyes and said, "I hope your right. I hope your right."

* * *

Author's note- The story is almost done, one more chapter and that should be it. Please review.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Matt was going out of his mind, he looked at the tower through the trees and started pacing again. Addi was in that tower with that stupid idiot Daire and he couldn't do a thing about it. The tower was heavily guarded and he currently didn't have the forces to overrun it. He was going to have to wait for reinforcements, or hope that Addi somehow figured out how to get away. He looked over at the locator spell still active on a tree stump and saw that it was still pointed towards the tower. From the corner of his eye he saw Tavis coming up to him.

"Am I as calm as I look?" He asked Tavis.

Tavis chuckled, "You look as calm as I feel. I wish we could do something other than wait, though."

"I am worried that Daire may retaliate by hurting Addi, if we attacked now with not enough force." Matt said.

"I know, I still wish we could do something. I hate waiting." Tavis replied.

Matt saw some movement around the tower, he squinted trying to figure out what was happening, "Look, Tavis. There are a bunch of guards running around. What do you think happened?"

Tavis looked at the tower and answered, "I don't know, but if I know my sister she probably caused it."

Matt turned around and started to head back to camp, "Let's take a team and see if we can get closer and see what is the matter." He said as he walked back.

As Matt snuck down to the tree line, he heard Tavis and Justin quietly coming after him. As he crouched down he watched the guards doing search patrols outside.

"They are searching for something." Justin whispered.

"Or someone." Tavis corrected.

They watched a riding group prepare and then leave camp. Matt leaned over to Tavis and asked, "Doesn't it look like they are riding toward our camp?"

"It does but I can't imagine what a small group would be heading to our camp. It couldn't be an attack, could it?" Tavis answered.

Matt shrugged his shoulders and motioned for them to head back to the horses, "Let's go see." He had just reached his horse when Justin motioned for him to look. He looked to where Justin was looking to see a lone rider racing towards the forest with a pursuing group following fast.

"That's Addi!" Tavis exclaimed, "I know that riding anywhere. We have to get to her first before Daire does."

Matt jumped on his horse and was off in the direction of the riders before he could even think his own name. He could hear the others following him but he only paid attention to where the lone rider had disappeared in the forest. He heard a loud whistle and urged his horse to go faster.

They approached a ring of riders, Matt looked around and saw Daire trying to lift a struggling Addi on his horse. Daire looked over at him and sneered before putting Addi on the ground keeping one arm tightly around his waist. Matt watched Addi, but she kept her head down, before calling out, "Daire let her go. And I believe I might let you live."

Addi's head jerked up in surprise and she exclaimed, "Matt!" before Daire pulled a knife and held it to her throat. He glared at Daire as Daire said, "She is mine, and not even a prince will get her from me."

Matt dismounted and held up his hands to show that he came in peace, "You don't want to hurt her, if you love her, you don't want to do her any harm." He stopped walking when Daire shouted for him to stay where he was, and tried to hold how his fear and anger when Daire proclaimed that he would hurt her if she couldn't be his. Matt backed up as Addi pleaded with Daire to let her go.

"Daire, Calm down, let us talk about this. We can find another way." Matt tried to reason.

Matt watched helplessly as Daire started to force Addi back with him to his horse. He was watching Addi's face when her face changed from fear to determination. He knew she was going to try something and started to walk forward as she pushed Daire back knocking him off balance and tried to free herself from Daire's grip. Matt was now running toward them as Daire yelled, "You idiot girl." And hit her on the head with the hilt from his knife. Addi dropped to the ground as Matt grabbed for the knife in Daire's hands. Matt felt as if his anger had made him stronger as the two of them wrestled with the knife. He finally claimed control of the knife and backed away.

Matt backed a few steps and told Daire to stand down and allow himself to be arrested for crimes against the Crown. Daire just sneered at him and yelled, "I will not allow you to have her." Daire then turned around and drew another knife from his belt and took a step towards Addi.

Matt didn't think he just acted. He didn't even realize that he had thrown the knife in his hand until he saw it in Daire's back. He stood numbly and watched Daire fall to the ground. Matt couldn't believe that he had killed somebody, he stood there looking at the body trying to wrap his mind around what just happened. He looked around unfocused until he saw Addi on the ground. He stumbled his way over to her and gently turned her over. Her head was bleeding where the knife hilt had hit her but she was still breathing which was a good sign. He pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and held it against her wound.

Matt looked up and saw that Justin was talking with a few of Daire's men and that Tavis was heading over to him. "What happened?" Matt asked Tavis as he drew near.

"They realized what a delusional idiot they were working for after he hit Addi with the knife. They didn't even try to save him when you were fighting him. Justin is talking with them about how the Crown will punish them for following him."

Matt just nodded, and looked back over at Daire's body. "I can't believe I killed him. I didn't want to."

Tavis nodded, "I understand, you tried everything to end it peacefully but Daire didn't want it that way. You did what you had to do in order to keep Addi safe. Speaking of my sister, we need to get her to a healer to look at that head wound of hers."

Matt nodded and carefully picked her up and headed to his horse. He looked over at Justin and said, "I trust you can take care of this here."

With Justin's nod, Matt followed Tavis.

They quickly rode up to the town Glas and headed for the healer's office immediately. The healer quickly saw to her and proclaimed with a good rest she should be fine. During the time the healer was examining her, Justin arrived with Daire's body. Matt met him outside the healer's room.

"I am going to talk his body to his parents." Matt abruptly told Justin.

"Why?" Justin asked, "He doesn't deserve anything that nice."

Matt looked over to the room where Addi was, "I know but I need to do it. I need to do this so I can let my conscious be at peace." He looked back over at Justin and asked, "Can I put you in charge of Addi? Once she is well enough take her to the castle. I'll meet up with you there."

Justin nodded, "I can do that. Please go and be at peace, you did what you had to in order to save her life."

Matt half-heartedly nodded and walked out of the building.

* * *

The ride to Duke Samuel and Duchess Alia's place was a long ride. Matt kept going over in his head what he would say to them and he wasn't sure how they would react. After the two day long ride his group of riders finally arrived at their destination. He wasn't surprised when Duke Samuel and Duchess Alia met him outside, He walked solemnly up to them and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to kill him, he just wouldn't leave us alone. I am so sor-." He was stopped by Duchess Alia coming up to him and giving him a big hug.

"I understand. While I am sad that he is gone, my son hasn't been himself for many years, in a way we lost him years ago." She told him as she released him from the hug. "Please come in and tell us what happened. I hope Adilyn is alright." She motioned toward the door.

"She is recovering at the moment." Matt started as they walked inside.

After explaining what happened and having dinner, Matt left for the castle. He wasn't quite sure what was worse, the fact that they were completely understanding on what happened or the fact that he was beginning to see it the way everybody was telling him to see it, that he had no choice but to kill Daire. He began to look forward to getting home. It would take three days to get there, and hopefully by then Addi would be there.

* * *

When Matt arrived at the castle he learned that Addi wouldn't be there for another day, he tried to go and meet her early but his father forced him to come to several council meetings. His logic was that Matt had missed too much while he had been out roaming around chasing after girls. Matt argued back that he had been chasing after one girl and now that she was on her way here, he would finally be marrying someone and providing the kingdom with a Queen. And everyone should be just happy with that.

Matt wasn't quite sure how his father had won the argument but he had and Matt was stuck in meetings waiting for Addi to arrive. After one especially long meeting Matt was greeted by Tana who told him that Addi had arrived and was most likely waiting for him in his workroom. He quickly thanked her and rushed over to his workroom. He opened the door and was greeted with silence. She wasn't there. He was about to turn around and try somewhere else when he was almost run over by somebody from behind. Matt turned around and saw Addi stammering apologizes and scooped her up in a bear hug.

He whispered in her ear, "I am so glad you are finally here."

He smiled as she whispered back, "So am I. It is hard to believe we are back here in this room after all that has happened."

Matt finally pulled away and gently stroked her cheek with his hand, "I wanted to come and get you, but Father insisted that I needed to take care of a few things here."

He felt her lean into his hand and felt his heart jump when she smiled up at him, "I am here now without anything to run away from either, so you're stuck with me."

Matt couldn't hold himself back anymore and he closed the gap between them and kissed her. He finally let her go and shivered as he felt her quick breathe against his neck. He led her over to the couch and sat down, just happy to be so close to her. "How much have you been told what happened?" Matt asked.

Addi shrugged, "Not much, they told me that was for you to tell. Which I have to say was very aggravating."

Matt felt his happy mood fading away, and replied, "I had to kill him, Daire would have always been a danger to you as long as he lived. Even though I hate him for what he did to you and there was no other way, I still feel bad that I did it. His parents didn't even blame me for his death even though it was my sword that killed him."

He was stopped by Addi touching his face, "Don't blame yourself for what happened. Daire didn't give you a choice, he would have killed me. I am sure of it. You are my hero and the love of my life." She finished with a quick kiss, which Matt leaned him and deepened.

When they finally broke away, Matt quickly stood up and helped her up, "I almost forgot, my mother has requested that you come see her, so you can start the wedding preparations. Mother is very excited, I wish you good luck."

He smiled as Addi made a face, "I am going to need all the luck I can get."

Matt laughed and encouraged, "Compared to what you have just been through, it should be a breeze."

She rolled her eyes and said, "I hope your right. I hope your right."

* * *

Author's note- I know I know, I can't believe I didn't finish this story for so long. But I am beginning to discover I hate writing endings. So I am now at the end of another story, I hoped you enjoyed it. I have a jumble of another story in my head, but I can't seem to straighten it out and get a good outline going. We'll see how long it takes me to get to going. Thanks for reading.


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